I’m feeling a bit stuck. I thought I would
get a few more blog posts out this summer (since my kids are now so big and
self-sufficient – ha! – leaving me with time to write – ha!). But aside from
the lack of time, mental space and working brain cells, I have also been
paralysed by a growing sense of unease about how we (meaning, really, ‘I’)
present our lives online.
Looking back over my Instagram pics or my
Facebook posts, there are lots of smiling faces and cute poses.
There are,
naturally, no pictures of my children trying to drown each other in the pool,
or of the scratches (from a sibling’s nails) that drew blood on their backs.
There
are tales of fun family activities but none of the hours of time in-between
that are filled with the repeated cry of the vacationing child. It goes a little
something like this: ‘I’m hungry, what can I eat, I’m starving, Mum! MUM! What
can I eat?’ Repeat, dawn til dusk, then throw in one or two at 10pm for good
measure.
The pictures don’t show the moment, a
second after I press the button (or, rather, tap the camera icon), when that
arm around a sibling’s shoulder becomes a hand around their neck.
If I try and balance out the coverage by
actually telling the truth about the tedium and terror of ten weeks of
holidays, I’ll embarrass my kids (I mean, embarrass them more than I already do
by, say, dancing in the car), and you, dear reader, will think I hate them and
am an unfit mother.
If I focus unrelentingly on the positive, I’ll
be living an online lie. And – judging by how inadequate I often feel when I
look at everyone else’s Facebook – that’s no good for anyone.
So which would you prefer? Tell me!!
