Real life vs. Facebook. Have you ever wondered if someone’s life is really all sunshine and roses? Are they faking it? Why aren’t they being real or telling the whole story?
If you read my Facebook feed these past few months, you would see some pretty terrific stuff. I live in a beautiful place (Colorado) with a beautiful view. I live in a Utopian neighborhood, on a golf course, we have great friends and family who love and support us, my kids can safely bike the half-mile to school and our milk gets delivered in glass bottles every Friday morning. We don’t struggle to put food on the table, our family can afford to have me work from home and be available for the kids. We are a happy, healthy family.
Why in the world should I share all the crap in our lives? I know some people don’t share their struggles because they want to hide them from others. They are afraid of showing weakness or anything less than perfection. Others, like me, feel like they are so blessed they don’t need to dwell on the hiccups of life. I feel like you shouldn’t focus on the crap because that becomes the inner voice you always hear, the negative one. It all begins in your mind, whatever you give power to has power over you. That being said, it’s been a shitty few months. So, if you want to know what REALLY happens behind the scenes of the sugar-coated Facebook feeds – here ya go!
- Summer. Home. With three boys. Ugh. My boys are fairly good kids, but someone is always being a jerk. Two are at difficult ages which is NOT FUN. Someone’s always back-talking. All three have very different personalities which means they each need something different. And they need it now. Don’t even get me started on the fighting amongst themselves…or the constant mess they leave in their collective wake.
So what you say? That’s no big deal…hang on…I’m just winding up.
- Our family went a rodeo in the mountains over Father’s Day weekend. My son’s friend was dog sitting. When we opened the door we were hit with the most foul stench you have ever smelled. I’m pretty sure a skunk dying in my house on a 100 degree day would have smelled better. One of our dogs got sick ALL over the carpet in our house. None of the wood floors, just the carpet. Oh yeah…and the fireplace. And into a few air vents. When I finally talked to the dog sitter’s mom she told me that they had cleaned up a few accidents, but when he came to check on them again they “had another accident that was so bad he left it” until his mom could help. Then he rode by our house later and saw we were home and was “too embarrassed to come in.” So, to recap: I’ve scarred our son’s sweet friend on his first-ever paying job. There’s literally shit everywhere. The house smelled so bad we had to rent an industrial-sized carpet cleaner. It didn’t help much. Neither did Febreeze. Yuck. We need to replace it and new floors weren’t exactly in the budget right now. Happy Father’s day, BTW.
- My father-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer on Easter. Let’s talk about how much that sucks. Seeing my husband, his brother, his mom, his entire family go through this is terrible. He’s feeling better right now, thank goodness. However, the prognosis isn’t good. He’s still a young guy. I don’t feel like sharing this on Facebook. It’s my in-laws business, not mine. Watching them all struggle through this and the roller-coaster of emotions is really hard. Again, it sucks. I don’t share that on my Facebook feed.
- My back went out last week. I lifted something waaaay too heavy and was in terrible pain for a few days. (I know, I should know better!) What made this worse was that our family was about to leave with three other families for a huge camping trip. My poor husband had to do all the packing and drive to the mountains with our boys. I eventually made it for the end, but I think I’d rather give birth again than have my back go out another time. Feeling like a cripple definitely can make you feel old!
- We have had visitors almost every week since my father-in-law got his diagnosis. I am so glad we are getting to spend time with friends and family, but keeping the house gorgeous all the time is tiring. My boys are furious at the amount of cleaning they’ve been doing…and I’m exhausted fighting with them about it.
- I can’t begin to count the number of ‘fish flush funerals’ I have had to sneak from my son. The tank in his room is the vortex of doom for all things fish. Snails and frogs too. I once snuck over to Petsmart to get a replacement fish before it closed. I was on my way to a movie and didn’t want to leave it in a hot car. I took the new fish in a baggie to the movies. Not kidding.
- I live 700+ miles from my family and haven’t made the ten hour drive home to see anyone since last summer. I’m so anxious to see them in a few weeks it makes me cry. I’m lucky to still have two grandparents alive and it is really hard to not spend what precious time I have left with them. I adore my family. They are some pretty cool cats and I wish I could see them more. One of my brothers I haven’t seen for almost eleven months. We are both deep in the weeds of raising kids but I miss him tons. I know we’re grown-ups (or at least pretending to be) but I miss my little brothers. My parents too.
- Last night, after another round of visitors, our garage door came off the track and the glass from the windows exploded all over the floor and driveway. Yeah…good times. More $$.
See not everyone’s life is as perfect as you see on Facebook. Mine was literally a shit storm earlier this month! But please remember, some of us don’t share all the bad stuff for a good reason. We’re not trying to be fake or perfect, we choose to find the good stuff in life.
Originally published on Mommy Drinks Wine and Swears.