Your 'Perfect' Instagram Life is Ruining Motherhood for the Rest of Us

Ahhhh, social media.

Like most moms I use it every day to catch up with my friends, find new recipes and see what’s up in my neighbourhood. I can see what’s going on with my family from far away, check out my friends’ kids/grandkids/fur babies and I can feel connected to their joy and happiness. There may have even been times when I looked up my old boyfriends to see how horribly they’ve aged. Yup, I use social media and (for the most part) I love it. I guess you could say I love it so much that I now have my own social networking app just for moms!

But here’s the thing- sometimes I find myself scrolling and feeling really crappy by what I'm seeing. Like, really, REALLY shitty.

Sometimes my feeds are full of:

• Political memes and opinions that make me angry.
• Videos of people being shot to death by the police (I STILL can’t believe that Facebook will allow videos of people being killed to be shared but not an image of a mother breastfeeding or giving birth. Mind blowing.)
• The ridiculously staged feed of "InstaMommy".

I know I’m not the only one who gets sucked into the unrealistic pressures that social media places on women, particularly moms.

You know what I’m talking about, right? The mom who’s doing push-ups with a toddler on her back, full hair and make-up in Lululemon while a perfectly foamy cappuccino sits in the forefront. Or the feed that's so curated you just know that a professional photographer has taken all those photos. Sometimes I can’t wrap my head around it… between her clean house and her super-tight body, how does she have time for making special coffee? Does she live with her photographer? Why doesn’t her kid have a snotty nose or a dirty shirt? Why isn't that kid whining like an asshole? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??

When I see a mom who seems to have it together like 'InstaMommy', I feel a little bad about myself for a minute.  It’s hard not to- currently, my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, my kid took a bun with ketchup for his school lunch and I may fit in some squats later when I look under the couch for the tv remotes. Again.

Don’t get me wrong- this isn’t about mommy-shaming the fit, clean-eating moms out there. It’s not about that at all. In fact, I find you inspirational! This is only about the fact that so many moms are fabricating their social media profiles to be “perfect”.  Deep down, we all know it’s just not true, even if we doubt ourselves for a minute.  And it’s really damaging for new moms who are having a tough time adjusting to the demands of motherhood. Or moms of teenagers who are battling drug addiction. Or moms who are having marital problems.

Because at the end of the day, if you’re a mom you’re a woman with problems.

Let’s stop pretending this is the easiest and most rewarding job in the world all the time and start talking about how tough it can be. Let’s celebrate the ups and downs of motherhood with other women who know what's up. For real.

Let's talk about feeling shitty about your current body, your relationship or even yourself as a mom because it's okay to not be okay.

I talk about this a lot because I truly care about moms. I have four kids of my own and I know my camera roll is full of pictures that I text to my husband. They're usually followed up with a "wtf??" or an "Are you kidding me?". Pictures of the time my kid "cleaned" up the kitchen (um no ya didn't!) and that time my dog managed to crap all over the wall of our house (like, how??)

Mamasoup is on a mission to bring you a space to share all of the crappier parts of your life. The real parts. The parts that you feel and you're not sure if it's normal. We talk about fun stuff too, but it's a space to connect with other moms on a real level. That's the reason I made it anonymous- because sometimes admitting that you feel like a bad mom or that you don't want to have sex with your partner is hard if people know who you are.

Join our village as we revolutionalize social media for women. We can't do it without you, Mama.

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