And who can blame them? A large percentage of new parents are what I call 'over-posters'. All of their social media platforms are riddled with pictures of their kids. All of their status updates or tweets are about babies, breastfeeding, or how many times they have been shit on today. They post 6 photos of Suzie at the park instead of picking the one best that gets the point across. They basically never post anything other than child related things, like they have no life outside of their kids.
Well I've just discovered something that might make those people who are annoyed lighten up a bit:
These new parents actually have no other life to post about.
My son Eli is just over a month old and I feel like I've been holding myself back from posting as much as I want to about him, so I don't annoy my friends. Even my boyfriend joked that I was doing a parenting blog, as if there wasn't enough about kids online already. But I am proud of Eli. I'm excited about this new phase of life, and I want to share the milestones we reach.
The thing is - the thing that makes me (or any new parent) posting about their child different than people posting about their passions or hobbies or pets, mixed in with the other exciting things going on in their lives, is that I do nothing but deal with Eli 24/7. It's not like I can put him down and then go for a spa day, or jog, or even cook a fabulous meal. I barely even find time to bathe, and when I do I don't get to do everything I want because Eli starts to cry, or is hungry, or wakes up. The other day I literally walked around with vomit in my hair and pee on my shirt for hours because I couldn't change or have a quick shower. And at night I'm up every 3 hours feeding and changing and soothing this human. There are zero breaks to do other things with a new baby.
Why don't I post online about other things besides my child? Because right now my child is 100% all consuming. For better or worse that is the truth. It is a rewarding experience, but it is hard.
So the next time you roll your eyes at another post from your camera happy new parent friend, try to understand that they haven't done a single thing for themselves in the past month and a half, and they might just need to show off why.
Amen! At 3 months into this adventure, me time is still few and far between. I love my son, and sharing pictures of him in all his cuteness - life revolves around him 100% in this house.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing about your new families adventures. This I am sure, is your biggest and most important adventure you and Justin have been on. Eli is so lucky to have such awesome parents to help guide him on his adventure. Please keep sharing those little moments, I know they bring a smile to my face, and I am sure it is the same for others, sometimes we just forget to say thanks for sharing. Hope you keep this blog going.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog post!
ReplyDeleteEspecially the part about choosing the best photo out of the film roll!
Can't wait to see you guys!