Facebook is a bad indicator of good parenting

note: A response to this blog by Jim LaPierre can be found on the BDN Blog: Recovery Rocks.

Dad’s out there. Do you carry pictures of your kids in your wallet? Does anyone my age or younger do this? Do you even print photos of your kids at all?

There is a good chance that you don’t. I  print very few. This of course does not mean I don’t have any. In fact I have taken thousands of photos of my son since he was born.

So where do these photos end up if not in my wallet. Facebook of course. Facebook is a great way to keep friends and family up to speed with the boy and his adventures. Posting photos and notes about my cute kid is like writing a holiday brag letter everyday.

Facebook thumbs downBut like anything, too much social media can be a bad thing, and it is important for fathers out there to know that Facebook isn’t real.

You can spend hours scrolling through Facebook and what you see is a snapshot of your friends and families. You see pictures of them all smiling, holding each other, all dressed in matching plaid out in a field somewhere. You read about what cute, smart or cleaver thing their toddler did today. You see photos of kids being happy and good in a big clean house. You see all of this and you think to yourself “I’m doing it wrong”.

It’s important to see Facebook for what it is; a highlights real. It shows the bests plays of the game while ignoring all the dropped passes and missed tackles.

It is too easy to get lost in seeing only perfect parents. They are posting precious moments of when their child first walks, but also remember that there are plenty they aren’t publishing. You’re not going to see a photos of a messy house or a blown out diaper that was on too long. You also aren’t going to read posts about how parents argued in front of their baby or that they gave in and let their 4-year-old have cookies for breakfast.

No one is perfect, despite what get’s put on social media. If you’re putting a roof over your kids head, food on their table and they are happy to see you when you walk in the door, then you are doing a good job. Remember that while surfing the social media scene.

note: A response to this blog by Jim LaPierre can be found on the BDN Blog: Recovery Rocks.

Pat Lemieux

About Pat Lemieux

Pat has it all, family, big old house, dogs, a young son and a quarter-life crisis. He blogs about trying to be who he has always been and be who he now needs to be. He enjoys 90's grunge metal, tasty local brews and the outdoors.