pictures vs. reality
On paper, today was a smooth and fun family day. We woke up and went to Breakfast with Santa at our church. We took advantage of fifty degree temps in December and walked around the zoo. The kids played at home this afternoon while Ben watched sports and I worked on our Christmas cards. The kids and I watched Elf while Ben worked on the bathroom renovation. I tried a new recipe for dinner. The kids put on their pajamas and I made salted caramel hot cocoa for our annual Pajama Light Drive.
I have pictures from today that would appear to further display an easy fun day of smiles and good times.
The reality, if I choose to be truthful instead, is that it was not a smooth day. Or at least not as smooth as it might appear. There were some fun parts and some sweet family moments, but for the most part, there was a lot of bickering and complaining today.
Ben and I tried hard to make it a wonderful day for the family, but- as days sometimes do- it fell short. These pictures are fun to look at, but pretty unrealistic. They couldn't be a better reminder for me to not compare my life to the life that others portray in social media.
I could share a picture of Katie with Santa and a picture of the kids in their pajamas and post something like "Breakfast with Santa to start the day and a pajama and hot cocoa drive down Candy Cane Lane to end the day- what a fun time of year!"It wouldn't be a lie, but it wouldn't tell the whole story either.
It wouldn't tell the story of a stubborn six year old who refused to participate at Santa's breakfast. It wouldn't tell my disappointment with a Santa who seemed too much in a hurry and did not even ever speak to Kate individually even though she had been so excited to tell him how much she wants a snowglobe for Christmas. It wouldn't tell my frustration at the zoo with boys much more interested in running and being noisy with the friends we ran into from Bristol than enjoying time as a family observing the animals. It wouldn't tell of multiple bouts of tears from Katie. It wouldn't tell of a puppy all of the sudden trying to nip and chew on everything he can find, requiring constant supervision. It wouldn't tell of a new recipe that was not a hit with the kids, so that despite my cooking, three of my kids ate a banana for dinner. It wouldn't tell of the arguing and complaining for most of the hour long (ridiculous.... never again) traffic jam we sat in waiting our turn to see the lights on Candy Cane Lane. It wouldn't tell the story of one frustrated mom whose last words to the boys before bed were "Not another word! Go to sleep!" or who had to sit by an overtired and crying three year old as she fell asleep. It wouldn't tell of two parents who said to each other before falling asleep for the night, "Man! Parenting is hard!"
And maybe nobody wants to know these things. Life is not perfect and happy all of the time, and we all know it. There seems something false, though, in only sharing pictures that portray it in this way.
I have pictures from today that would appear to further display an easy fun day of smiles and good times.
The reality, if I choose to be truthful instead, is that it was not a smooth day. Or at least not as smooth as it might appear. There were some fun parts and some sweet family moments, but for the most part, there was a lot of bickering and complaining today.
Ben and I tried hard to make it a wonderful day for the family, but- as days sometimes do- it fell short. These pictures are fun to look at, but pretty unrealistic. They couldn't be a better reminder for me to not compare my life to the life that others portray in social media.
I could share a picture of Katie with Santa and a picture of the kids in their pajamas and post something like "Breakfast with Santa to start the day and a pajama and hot cocoa drive down Candy Cane Lane to end the day- what a fun time of year!"It wouldn't be a lie, but it wouldn't tell the whole story either.
It wouldn't tell the story of a stubborn six year old who refused to participate at Santa's breakfast. It wouldn't tell my disappointment with a Santa who seemed too much in a hurry and did not even ever speak to Kate individually even though she had been so excited to tell him how much she wants a snowglobe for Christmas. It wouldn't tell my frustration at the zoo with boys much more interested in running and being noisy with the friends we ran into from Bristol than enjoying time as a family observing the animals. It wouldn't tell of multiple bouts of tears from Katie. It wouldn't tell of a puppy all of the sudden trying to nip and chew on everything he can find, requiring constant supervision. It wouldn't tell of a new recipe that was not a hit with the kids, so that despite my cooking, three of my kids ate a banana for dinner. It wouldn't tell of the arguing and complaining for most of the hour long (ridiculous.... never again) traffic jam we sat in waiting our turn to see the lights on Candy Cane Lane. It wouldn't tell the story of one frustrated mom whose last words to the boys before bed were "Not another word! Go to sleep!" or who had to sit by an overtired and crying three year old as she fell asleep. It wouldn't tell of two parents who said to each other before falling asleep for the night, "Man! Parenting is hard!"
And maybe nobody wants to know these things. Life is not perfect and happy all of the time, and we all know it. There seems something false, though, in only sharing pictures that portray it in this way.
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