When does sharing become too much?
I think my kids are great and I'm guessing you feel the same way about your kids.
All children deserve to have parents who love them and think they're special.
Sometimes, with social media and our desire to share the events of our lives with our friends on various social media platforms, things can get a little tricky. How much should you share on social media? Is it boasting and bragging? When does it cross a line and become too much?
I love hearing about the successes of my friend's kids. Who doesn't like good news? However, that doesn't mean I like hearing about every achievement or accomplishment your amazing kid does each day. We've all boasted about exciting news and wanted to share with our social media community. That's what makes having social media fun. It's an amazing way to connect with people and share our lives.
The good. The bad. The ugly.
I especially love hearing about college acceptances, successful achievements and special accomplishments. I celebrate with you. I bask in your excitement. I'm right there cheering for your family.
This isn't what I'm referring to.
I'm referring to the person who posts so frequently about the successes of his or her child that you just roll your eyes when you read another post. Not that you aren't happy for that person, because you are. You don't feel jealousy either. It's just that enough is enough. There are ups and downs in life, and just sharing the ups, gets a bit overdone.
Here's the thing, I'm not going to like you any more or less if your kid makes the winning home run, gets all A's on a report card or aces a standardized test. I like you for who you are, not for what your kid accomplishes.
Society likes to measure things and success is one of them. We tend to measure success by materialism, titles and honors received.
While these are important, don't forget about the qualities that can't be measured as easily: kindness and caring, being humble and honest, acceptance and tolerance.
I don't want my kids to think I value them based on their accomplishments. I don't want them to feel any less loved if I don't share their good news on my social media pages. I want them to know how proud of them I am, not for what they've done, but for who they are.
As people.
As human beings.
As the amazing individuals they're becoming.
What happened to the days of just posting a good grade on the refrigerator or going out for ice cream to celebrate a good report card? Those were good days.
Don't stop sharing your kid’s successes on social media, just make sure your child is the person who knows how you feel.
That's what really matters.
Dara is an inspirational writer and speaker and founder of the the popular blog Crazy Perfect Life