Facebook Envy, Be Gone!

We live in an age of over sharing. In 2 clicks on our smartphone we can share pictures of every meal we consume. Three minutes on Facebook can reveal everything about a person except maybe their blood type and birth weight.

I am guilty of habitual social media browsing. I get lost in my Facebook newsfeed and carried away searching hashtags on Instagram. With all of this has come a brand new way for us moms to feel inadequate - let's call it Facebook envy.

Sometimes we all see what other people are posting and feel like we are falling way short comparatively. It is hard to know that what they share isn't necessarily reality.

"Wow! What a great workout at the gym. I ran and never even broke a sweat. Getting close to my goal weight. Yay me!"

(Reality: I got to the gym and after half a mile my phone died and I had no music to keep me entertained so I called it quits for the day and went for fro yo instead. Ugh!)

"After the gym I made a delicious five course meal using only the organic foods I grew in my garden. My kids ate every bite and were so well mannered. Yay me!"

(Reality: The fro yo didn't sit right so I didn't feel like cooking and grabbed KFC on my way home. The kids had a huge fight over who got the drumstick and the last of the mac and cheese. Ugh!)

"Before bed all the kids sat around the living room reading Tolstoy while hubby and I reviewed our portfolio. Future looks bright! Yay me!"

(Reality: The kids watched Spongebob while the hubby and I fought over finances. I don't understand where the money goes every month. Ugh!)

"I decided to try the family bed idea I saw Blossom talking about on Good Morning America. A whole night of cuddling with my babies? Yes please! Yay me!"

(Reality: The cat peed on all the kids beds and I didn't get around to cleaning it today. Guess I'm stuck with them all piling in bed with me. Ugh!)

Ok, those may be far fetched, but I think you get what I am talking about. On top of this, every holiday has become a contest of who can make it cuter, better, bigger for their kids; the daily Elf on the Shelf pictures, the rascally leprechauns, Pinterest birthday parties. It's enough to make the less creative or over-worked mom feel like she has let her kids down because they aren't getting the extreme Martha Stewart experience.

We can't let ourselves feel like failures over somebody else's newsfeed, though. We can't possibly know what their reality is. Maybe their fairy tale version they share is just their way of coping with what they perceive as their own shortcomings. Plus, who wants to air all their dirty laundry for the world to see.

I was recently talking to a friend who is separated. We were discussing how hard married life can be, and I revealed that my husband and I recently went through a rocky patch of our own. She was shocked. "You guys always seem so happy, though," she said.

Well gosh, nobody is always happy. Every marriage has issues. That couple that just posted pictures of their romantic weekend away could be taking a trip to try to reconnect rather than divorce. You never know what somebody else's struggle is.

I gladly share when my 11-year-old does laundry or my 6-year-old runs the vacuum. I don't post when they are on the ground kicking the crap out of one another. And guess what? They are kicking the crap out of each other more often than they are doing housework!

Let Facebook be an escape. Enjoy looking at pictures of cute babies. Laugh at the e-cards. Don't let other people's timelines become the measurement of your own life, though. Do your best every day to be your best for you, because your real life status is way more important than the next guy's Facebook one!