Today, I snapped a picture of my children sitting cheerfully on a picnic blanket, all smiles directed at the camera, and thought, “What a beautiful moment! I should share this on social media!”
The Idealized Version
The version of our day that would go online would unfold like this:
We’ve just returned from vacation and are in the midst of a heatwave (which, for us in Ireland, means temperatures reaching a balmy 70 degrees). The kids, surprisingly, all slept in until 8 a.m. — a promising start.
We spent the morning playing outside, followed by a lovely lunch on our picnic blanket — hence the photo. Afterward, we gathered ingredients to create homemade ice pops for the next day, which was a delightful bonding activity with my two daughters while the baby napped peacefully in his crib.
Next came some mother-daughter time as the girls painted my nails while I reciprocated the favor. We even made heart-shaped sandwiches from a recipe found in my daughter’s cookbook, which we then took to the playground for a late afternoon picnic — taking turns on the swings, of course.
On our way home, we picked fresh fruits and vegetables for dinner and ended the day with another meal outside in our still-warm garden. A perfect day, right?
The Reality
Well, here’s the reality — the part that the Facebook snapshot doesn’t capture…
The morning was dominated by squabbles; I spent most of it breaking up fights between the girls, who were arguing over who got to be the princess and who was the sister. There was quite a bit of drama when I denied them yogurt just before lunch. The picnic? It was a chaotic affair with food smeared everywhere, a toddler sticking his feet in his sisters’ plates, and squabbles over who received the largest sandwich. My Facebook post captured a quiet moment amidst the chaos of mealtime.
As for those homemade ice pops, they were basically just whatever we had in the fridge mixed together: water, orange juice, grapes, and a lone, sad strawberry. The nail polish the girls applied to me looked like a colorful disaster, and because it was a gel-based paint (not my choice), it took me ages to remove after they went to bed. I had to reapply it perfectly so they wouldn’t be disappointed in the morning.
The heart-shaped sandwiches? They may have looked adorable in the cookbook, but our version ended up as jam spread on bread, cut into triangles and strips.
The playground was fine, except for when my four-year-old came over in tears after a larger girl told her to get off the swing. I usually avoid confronting children at the park, but my daughter was so upset that I felt compelled to intervene. I spoke gently but firmly to the older girl, explaining that it’s nicer to take turns and that we shouldn’t tell others to vacate their spot. It turned out the girl had simply asked for a turn, and my daughter had misunderstood the situation. Lesson learned for me — no more jumping in!
Our grocery shopping trip was just as you might expect with three tired, hungry kids. Dinner in the garden was interrupted by a couple of persistent, oversized flies, which, unfortunately, met their end during our meal.
Yet, despite the chaos, it was a good day.
Further Reading
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Summary
This article highlights the contrast between the idealized version of a day shared on social media and the often chaotic reality of parenting. While the Facebook snapshot captures moments of joy, the underlying struggles and challenges are just as significant, reminding us that every day is a mix of both.