You
know those food posts you read all the time on facebook? The ones that say: “On
tonight’s menu…Beef Wellington with baby spinach and slivered almonds, and
sweet potato soufflé. Oh! And organic chocolate cake made with avocado and
broccoli!”? Yeah. You know the ones.
I
think it’s great if you can make that! Seriously. And if your kids will eat
that? Even better! I don’t care how much chocolate cake I’d put around it, my
kids wouldn’t touch an avocado.
But
I’ll make spaghetti! My kids will eat that! (Without the sauce) but my kids
will eat it. I think that’s okay, right? I mean, I use whole grain noodles. And
they’ll drink a glass of milk.
Should
I be doing more? Should I make my own pasta sauce? Should I make my own
pasta??? What makes a piece of beef “wellington?” How do you soufflé a sweet
potato? Why would you put broccoli in chocolate cake?
Why
am I even giving any thought to this? Our dinner’s fine... Right? Isn’t it?
Yes.
It’s fine. What I make for dinner is fine.
My
point is this: Someone else’s post about how their toddler is being looked at
to join the 2016 Olympic team, or how their 6 year old can recite the
Declaration of Independence backwards and in Spanish, or how their kids can fly does not make you less of a
wonderful mom.
Your
kids think you’re great even though they aren’t fluent in Mandarin and eat fish
sticks for dinner.
Facebook
and Pinterest, in my opinion, have made parenting just that much harder. Don’t
get me wrong, I love both forms of social media and use each of them daily, but
as I sat down to write this I thought, “Why do we feel the need to impress each
other?” “Why do we feel the need to tell people how busy we are?” “Why does
that matter?” “Does it matter?”
Maybe
it’s fear, or jealousy, or pride. Maybe it’s all three! We want people to like
us, right? We all want to be great at something. We see other people enjoying
their “perfect” lives. We want that too! How do we get there? We read posts
everyday about how perfect her life
is. That must be exactly how things are at her house. I mean, it’s right there
on facebook! It has to be true!!!
That’s
dangerous, folks. Comparing ourselves to others will only lead to
disappointment because there will always be someone with more. More skills,
more talent, more money. Even those people want more. It doesn’t end.
Here’s
a great quote from a family friend: “It doesn’t matter how much money you make,
you’re always at a different level of poor.” Ironic coming from a vice
president of a company.
So,
I say, let’s celebrate the ordinary!! Let’s be content with our macaroni and
cheese! Let’s wave our chocolate cake made with chocolate cake in the air and
say, “Hey! My children can’t fly nor do they speak Latin! But they do say
please and thank you and my son knows how to hold a door for people! We’re
average and it’s cool!”
3 comments:
This is why you are my best friend! You put into words, so eloquently, what I'm thinking....you always have. You thoroughly entertained me and I look forward to your Blogs.....no pressure :) Good luck and love you so much.
On last night's menu... Cereal. Tonight? Their choice of Taco Bell or McDonalds. But they are happy!
This is great Becki! I can't wait to read your next one!
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