What did parents do with unruly kids before Pinterest highlighted the 457 ways to calmly manage your preschooler?, and 75 methods of managing home stress without yelling?
I’ll tell you what they did;
Managed however it worked for them without guilt someone else was doing it The Cleaver Way. The guilt ended at your own feelings, and not judgements on how much better momofseventeen@homeschooler.com can manage.
Before Pinterest you only had your own shame and embarrassment about the disheveled state of your house based on the reaction of your family. The select few you invited over.
School lunches were just that; lunch. You felt on your game if you managed a note or smily face on a post it in the feedbag.
This era is long since gone.
Well, not really. I still believe the few are represented as the whole on pinterest, and even facebook to a certain degree.
People do not post pictures of the holidays that went awry when aunt Bea passed out in mom’s stuffing, or uncle Jimmy high as a kite picking through purses.
Nope, you only get the ‘before’ pics on facebook. ( if you’re over 30, i mean)
I have been told more than once, “I only see pictures of your kids when they are happy and smiling!”
Because i don’t need a photograph to remember that. The screaming tantrums and raspberries are etched into my brain due to the frequency of it. I post and take pics of moments i want to relive and remember. The tantrum over eating crackers out of a bag versus in her hand is not on that list. And really? Do you REALLY want to see pictures of my screaming kids?!
Well i for one consider myself a renaissance woman. I generally feed my kids food, not artwork. I give them regular baths, i dont do puppet shows for them every night and for the most part, our house is clean-ish and the bills are paid.
Peppered in there for my own morale boost and break from tedium are projects (easy hamster-level-coordination & prep projects) that hopefully make my kids happy and excited.
Just think, ten/fifteen years ago moms all over planned road trips and dinner parties and weddings without a website to show them they didnt even come close to attaining the peak of their creativity and organization!!
*gasp*
Holidays were predominantly store-bought decorations with a few family tradition homemade goodies. People hired bakeries to provide goodies. People bought table linens and children’s clothes instead of making their own with recycled washrags and curtains.
And you know what? I think people were less stressed! There wasn’t as much pressure on women.
Yes, women.
You think men loose sleep on whether or not Billy Jones is judging his hand-rolled cigarette or store bought flannel? No! Men are on pinterest, i’ve seen it. You know what they pin? “Nerd Comics” or “Gadget Ideas”.
So here’s to those of us who use the site to kill time between commercials, or to bide time until the next Facebook update. For the ladies who know the limits of their creativity and can appreciate others’, and relish in their own accomplishments however few and far between … and here’s to the friends and sig others who are smart enough to lavish the correct amount of praise on said accomplishments!
Now if you’ll excuse me, i have to go plan my fantasy wedding/reception/bachelorette party and baby shower!
Sarcasmica 