Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Facebook Tells All

A few days after New Year's, I was having a rare morning of "me" time while Alec was at preschool and Chase was at home with Chad. I decided to go to Panera Bread and enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee and catch up on the latest gossip in my Redbook magazine (even if the "latest" gossip is really the October edition that has been sitting on my desk unopened for four months). Being the Facebook addict that I am, I also had to share this as my status. So I opened up my phone and typed, "Alec is at school, Chase is hanging out at home with Chad, and I'm enjoying coffee and a magazine at Panera Bread. I'd say this is a good way to start the New Year!

After a half hour or so, I checked my phone to see if anyone had commented on my status. A few people had "liked" it, and a few others had offered comments telling me to enjoy the time. But the more I thought about it, the less I liked what I had really said. Was I really saying that a great way to start off the New Year is without my kids?

I've never been a fan of New Years resolutions, and this year is no exception. I've just never seen the point in waiting until a new year starts to try to achieve something you want. But I do use the start of a new year as a time to reflect on what is going on in my life. And this year I turned to Facebook to help me out. After considering the status I had just posted, I thought back to other statuses I had shared over the past year or so... "All I want for Christmas is for Chase to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time during the day...", "...looking forward to date night tonight...", "...taking a deep breath, counting to 10, and repeating over and over to myself I love my children, I love my children, I love my children...". I think you get the picture. Basically a lot of my statuses had to do with my frustrations with my children or enjoying time without them. In fact, if someone who didn't know me were to visit my Facebook page, they might just wonder why I even had children in the first place.

But just as I was about to put myself up for nomination for worst mother of the year, I realized that for every one frustrating status there were two or three statuses that showed my love for my kids. There were statuses about the fun trips we took, like to Zoo America or to see Yo Gabba Gabba. There were statuses about trying to find home remedies for my poor little guy who wasn't feeling well. There were statuses about what Alec or Chase happened to do on a particular day that made me laugh. There were statuses about not being able to believe how quickly the kids are growing up.

Before I knew it it was time to pick Alec up from school. On the way to get him, I think I figured out what I was really thinking when I made the initial Facebook post that got me onto this whole train of thought. I was thinking that I had a wonderful time on New Year's Eve day with Chad & the boys. We played at the Whitaker Center for a while before heading over to see some children's theatre and a kid's countdown to noon, and we ended the day with a trip to Christmas Candylane at Hersheypark. And while I had a blast watching Chase play in the water table at Whitaker and watching Alec on all the rides at Hersheypark, I also had a blast at Panera Bread sipping my coffee and reading my magazine (even if I barely made it past the table of contents because I really spent all my "me" time thinking about the kids!). So a great start to the New Year was actually spending some quality time with my family, while also escaping for some non-mommy time. Now if only that would have fit into a Facebook status!

1 comment:

  1. Well said - love it! I feel the same way so often - I frequently "complain" about the kids. (I'm a complainer by nature, what can I say?) But I also love to share all the firsts and the funnies and the fun in general... perhaps non-mom's may not recognize this fact when seeing Facebook updates out of context of ALL the time you spend with your children. But anyone who knows you (and those are the folks who truly count) know just how important the kids are to you and how much love there is between you!

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