• Sunday 7:30pm
    Decide to wait to change my Facebook cover picture until Monday since a lot of my ‘friends’ on the East Coast won’t be up to see it. Plan on a 9am-ish upload. Picture and caption ready for AM launch. Baby asleep. Time to watch Walking Dead season finale with the hubs. Staying off of FB to avoid spoilers.

    Monday 9:15am
    Baby fed and occupied in her playroom. Have a minute to upload the new cover on FB. Upload complete! Refresh, refresh. It’s been 48 seconds, no likes yet…ok…this picture of my 18-month-old daughter eating finger paints is hilarious and cute. Right? Why doesn’t anyone else think so? Ugh, should I remove it? Let’s wait… People on West Coast are at work or in transit, East Coast peeps might be on a lunch break.

    9:25am
    Three likes, phew. Ok, some find it amusing. Good. Confidence restored. Refreshing, refreshing. Anyone, anyone? Cool, two more. Keep ’em coming.

    9:30am
    Between sips of coffee, refresh iPhone. One more ‘like’ from that high school friend who I haven’t talked to in 17 years. That’s sweet. I wonder how she is these days, oy, three kids. Geez, wonder how she has time for that morning run that she is constantly posting via Run-tracker. I barely have time to breathe these days…or check my FB ;).

    9:47am
    Pour more coffee, check on the baby. She is busy with puzzles, good. Check iPad again, refresh page. Oh! Sweet, a reminder to wish my former coworker a happy birthday. Let’s get this out of the way. Oh, wait, I see red! Three more red notifications waiting for me! Wow! Seven more likes and….wait for it…..A FIRST COMMENT! My mother-in-law thinks our daughter looks adorable and sends her love. Ah, feeling good!

    11:57am
    Early lunch after stroller walk. Baby now down for nap. Let’s check FB again. Hoping I get more likes on my pic. Thinking I should have posted on Instagram too, should I have added a cool filter?

    12:10pm
    Reviewing the weekend posts in between sips of a kale smoothie. Jealous of everyone’s weekend endeavors. We should have gone to the zoo, farmers’ market, beach, museum etc. Interesting picture of Lindsay with friends at brunch post-yoga. Why didn’t Lindsay invite me Saturday morning? We talked about it before, looks like she has new BFFs ever since I had the baby….. Hmmmmm. Ugh. Feeling lonely and isolated. Ok. Shake it off. Four more likes. Woohoo!

    1:45pm
    Hear baby babbling in her crib while doing my own yoga stretches. Check FB before focusing on the baby. Holy cow, 12 more likes and two comments. Friend from a Mommy and Me class states the pic is cute and another local friend posts that a play date is needed in the near future. Ok, back in business.

    2:07pm
    Realize the only acceptance I truly need is the beaming little face of my happy child looking up at me.

    Yes, we have all had at least some of these thoughts while posting on social media. Many of these friends are people that we have not spoken with in person for over 15+ years. Why are we always seeking recognition and acknowledgment from these so-called Facebook friends? Sad, but true. We tend to cling to affirmation from social media to confirm our own self-worth on some level. What truly matters is having a full life and finding joy in the small things that make up our day; having faith in ourselves for all we do, gaining perspective without relying on others to boost our esteem. We can enjoy being part of the larger circle, but need to remember to deal with reality, not to define ourselves by comparing or competing.