Facebook 101 (for moms)

We've all seen them, the 10-most-annoying-people-on-Facebook lists, with moms being on the top of the list, beating out even duckface teen girls and vague whiners ("My life is over!").  With the invention of unbaby.me in particular, I found myself feeling rather self-conscious every time I wanted to share something silly my kid did, or post yet another picture of them eating bacon.

I've decided to stop feeling weird about it, though, because I stinkin' love baby pictures.  In fact, that's sort of a general thing across the board, I want to share the things the people I care about love.  Babies, a well-cooked meal, an awesome vacation, any of the stereotypical "annoying" things, if it's someone I genuinely care about, of course I want to see it.  Why wouldn't I?  Thus, I have to assume that the people I care about feel the same way about me and my kids.

I think the problem has less to do with over sharing than over friending.  Do I necessarily care that a person I barely knew in my math class in 2nd grade had a kid?  Not really.  Do I want to see an endless stream of pictures of that baby?  Nope.

My niece, on the other hand?  Post those stinkin' pictures!  I want to see every smeared avocado and walk in the park and haircut.

My friends, I love to read about the funny thing your kid said.  I want to know that they're finally going potty 95% of the time.  I want to know that they love graham crackers.  I want to know that they slept through the night for the first (or second, or third, or fifteenth) time.  I want to know that they came down with the sniffles.  I want to know...if I didn't want to know, I'd be a friendly acquaintance at best, not a friend.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're a mom, don't worry about being annoying.  Share what you love, with the people you love.

Besides, we're moms.  I don't know about you, but I don't have enough energy to make sure everyone eats enough veggies, vacuum the floor, AND play pirate treasure, so why bother wasting energy trying to maintain my "cool?"  It's just not practical.

That's no excuse to wear mom jeans, though.

If you're annoyed with someone's baby's pictures, unfriend them.  If you don't care enough to be joyful in a person's exuberance over the person they created, you don't really like them that much anyway.  I'm not saying that to be mean, it's perfectly okay to realize that you don't value the same things that someone else values.

So, here are my quick rules for Facebook for Moms:

1) Focus on quality, not quantity, in all areas of Facebook.  This includes paring down friends to people you are actually friends with and care about.  You might also think about not posting twenty fuzzy baby pictures that look exactly the same, pick out the best few.  And your description of your kid's poop better be funny enough to justify the gross factor.

That's it.  That's the rule(s).  You're welcome.

10/08

When I was a sophomore in high school, I had a geography class that let out at 10:08.  Don't ask me why I remember that, I don't remember when any of my other classes let out that year or in the years preceding or following.  It wasn't such an awful class that I stared at the clock waiting for it to be over, either, or such a great class I dreaded it being over.  It's just a mystery.

Since then, I've noticed that 10:08 is used a lot in clock and watch advertisements, and very time I see it, I think, "hey, geography is over."

It actually makes me happy, when I check my clock and that's what it says.  I also have a vague feeling of expectation, like something should happen, every 10/08.  Again, I don't know why.  I'm not one of those people who reads secret meanings or conspiracies into stuff like that, and I'm not checking the 10th chapter and 8th verse of every book in the Bible.  I think it's just a weird thing that stuck in my brain and won't get out.

But this year, I really do have something to look forward to on October 8th.  That's the due date of baby #3!

Of course, if little baby fuzzy blob takes after his/her siblings at all, he/she won't be born until a week or two after that, but that's okay.  It just gives us more time to squeeze in my favorite fall things, like picking apples and visiting a pumpkin patch, before baby fuzzy blob is born.  It's gonna be an awesome fall!

But first, we have to get to that point.  Someone remind me that someday, relatively soon, I will be able to eat real food again.

Just A Little Bit Of Perspective

I don't know if you've noticed this, but haven't been online much, on FB or this blog or pinterest or anything really.  There are a few reasons for this:

1.  Sitting down in front of my computer makes me sleepy and queasy.  Seriously.  It's easier to sit in front of the tv, or lay down with a book when my kids are in school or otherwise occupied (thank heaven for Disney Junior).

2.  I'm actually still online, I'm just quietly stalking everyone.  Mwahahahaha.  Not seriously.

3.  I feel even more isolated than usual every time I read about my friends in other states hanging out with other people.

4.  I don't really have much to say right now, at least not complain-y stuff.  I could fill whole books with "gah, I hate morning sickness (or as I liked to call it, all-day sickness)," or "I'm so tired," or "I'm so cold," or "emotions are dummy dumb dumb faces (giggle, sob)," or "is there any chance I'll stop craving Chocolate Malt Ovaltine any time soon?" but that would be boring, so I'm trying not to do it.  I think I'm still doing it more than I should, but I'm trying to suck it up.  Haha.

Rich, chocolately Ovaltine

The thing is, when you walk around in an exhausted haze all day, are unable to eat anything but "white" food (white flour, sugar, potatoes, milk, etc), and are freezing all day long, it's hard to take a step back and "be joyful."  But the reality is, despite how miserable and tired I feel physically, I'm actually really happy.  I feel relatively content with where we are and what we are doing.   I'm super happy with our family dynamic and our belongings and lifestyle.

There are parts of my life that I truly believe couldn't get much better, and those are the parts that really matter.  For instance, my super sweet, supportive husband, who doesn't seem to mind that we've been eating mostly PB&J or cereal for dinner for over a week now and that the house is starting to look like it's been in a tornado's path.    He also brings me Häagen-Dazs every time he goes to the store (that, ladies, is what you call a keeper).

Or, my awesome kids, who think everything is hilarious, and know innately that life is an adventure.  They definitely don't mind the PB&J or cereal for dinner, they are grateful for a temporary reprieve from my culinary experiments.

Plus, no matter how isolated or lonely I feel, I only have to drive 5 minutes in nearly any direction to see something this, which sort of puts everything into perspective for me.

It's also nice knowing that all my sleeplessness at night, exhaustion by day, food aversions, food cravings, random crying, random crazy laughing, is all for a purpose.  A great purpose, too, we're going to have another kid who thinks everything is hilarious, and knows innately that life is an adventure.  It's going to be worth it, it's already worth it...I wouldn't trade my physical misery for anything.

Hey, and at least it's temporary.  Soon, the morning sickness will be over, and even more sleepiness nights will kick in as my hormones go even crazier and my body gets weird and hippo-y.  And then I'll start craving Popeye's spicy chicken sandwiches and toasted ravioli.  And then the horrible rib pain and leg cramps and the peeing every 2 minutes...followed by giving birth (shudder)...and then as my hormones finally relax enough for me to be able to fall and stay asleep, I'll have a baby to take over as my tiny, crazy, frequent alarm clock.  But at least he/she will be cute, awesome, and worth it!  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.