An Open Letter

Dear Social Media,

You have this tendency to make our lives look perfect.  Nothing ever goes wrong.  We are always happy.  We have tons of energy to pour into our handsome, loving husbands, and our well-mannered, adorable children.  We prepare healthy, organic, and delicious meals that we eat while gathered around the dinner table happily chatting about the day. And let’s not forget about our always tidy, never a dirty dish in the sink, magazine-ready homes.  It’s a lot of pressure to try to live up to this expectation you create.  Because let’s face it, life is not perfect. 

Sometimes my husband and I get along and sometimes we don’t.  Sometimes I’m the wife I should be and sometimes I’m not.  Are we committed? Yes.  Are we perfect?  Ummm. No.

Most days, at least one of my children is screaming bloody murder as we load into the car to get where we are going.  The same is true for our return home.  I’m pretty sure our neighbors think we’re horrible parents.  I lose my patience more often than I’d like to admit.  I tell my kids I’ll read to them (or play with them, or take them on a walk) in a minute because I’m too busy scrolling through one of the many news or photo feeds on my phone…my phone that is never more than five feet away from me.  I let my kids watch too much tv (is any tv really necessary?). 

Our eating habits are bi-polar.  I might make a new recipe I found that looks super yummy, but is far from healthy.  Or I might try my hand at a healthy recipe with which my family is less than impressed.  And the big one, we eat Taco Bell, and Donuts, and all kinds of other things that are horrible for our bodies, and you, Social Media, would not approve.

My house.  If it’s clean, it’s only because I’ve neglected my children to scrub and dust, load and unload, fold and put away.  If it’s not clean, it may be because I’m in the moment with my kids.  Or it may be because I don’t feel like cleaning and I’d rather do something mindless like browse the interwebs or peruse those pesky news feeds.  Always the news feeds.

And finally, I’m paranoid.  I’m paranoid someone is going to break into my home and take my babies or hurt me.  On any given day, I’m paranoid that one of the members of our family has some kind of horrific ailment.  I’m afraid of the dark.  I’m a control freak.  I’m emotional.  You never know what (or who) you’re going to get.  Sure, I can put on a normal face and please the crowd, but real me is crazytown.

I’m not going to start putting it all out there for the world to see.  I don't believe in airing out our dirty laundry via status updates.  I prefer to be positive and lift up the people around me.  But I just want you to know, social media, that I’m not perfect, not by a long shot.  Whew!  That felt good!