Welcome back to Parental Advisory, where I answer all of your social media and IRL parenting etiquette questions. This week, let’s talk about the anxiety that can surround not posting much (or anything) about your kids online.
Question:
I’m not a mom that posts every little thing about my child on Facebook. In fact, I have only in the last year maybe posted like four or five things about him (including photos). He is 5, and the first four years of his life cannot be viewed by clicking through cyberspace. At this point, I’m rather proud of that. But I have had this thought go through my head…do I just not care about my child as much as other people on Facebook who post about their kids? Maybe I’m not dwelling enough on him and his every move? In this day and age, as absolutely everything is being documented, I wonder if my son is going to look back, and while every other classmate he has can pull up a website and show off every shit, smile, and move they made from day one…is he going to look at me and be like “What the fuck, mom? What are these actual tangible photo albums you have? Do you even LOVE me?” I’m wondering if this is the new norm?
More: A DayGlo guide to parenting like it’s 1985 again
I can’t say that I will ever be able to bring myself to act like the “sharing moms” on Facebook…but I’m wondering if at his eighth grade graduation it’s going to look like his mom was absent the first 14 years of his life. Is this where we’re headed? And now that I’ve put this into words, I feel better. I’m going to go get a cocktail and play with my kid now. In the real world, and I won’t be posting a photo about it on Facebook.
Thanks,
Modern Times Mom
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