Read on if you are a mother and you have social media accounts.
How do you usually keep the special moments you spend with your loving babies and children?
Unlike our parents who could only take pictures of our childhood, we are now swamped with a variety of smartphone applications to do so.
On top of this, we can even record our children’s milestones in video format with the convenience of social media.
Simply click into any social media application and you are automatically the director of your children’s life movies.
Welcome to the generation of Instamums, where you are just a click away from countless photos of cute little babies!
While it is great having Instamums share how their daily motherhood looks like, there is a downside. The constant snapping or clicking might affect a child’s socio-emotional development.
Worry not, here’s a checklist to keep you on track:
You do not need to start from scratch to join the inspiring motherhood community.
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Checklist To Free You From Instamum-Guilt
#1: Never force your children to pose for perfect pictures
On social media, most of us post to garner a lot of likes and comments. However, this does not mean that you should constantly put your children into long shooting hours.
Also, you should never bribe your children with presents just to get their broad smile for your perfect Instagram posts.
You might argue that you are taking nice photos not only for yourself but also for the sake of your friends and family members.
As an influencer, you might argue that you need nice photos so that your followers would double tap and comment for more engagement.
But, what about your children’s rights and childhood life?
While you are busy taking their photos and videos, you are in fact using up their free time. You are replacing their playtime with long working shoots. You are even killing their spontaneity for your perfect social media feeds!
Instead of looking for followers on social media, you should really consider taking photos of our children in their natural state.
If your children do not feel like taking any photos at the moment, you should respect their wishes.
#2: Post about your daily routines selectively
When you get your pregnancy tested and you receive your first sonogram, to who or where do you share with?
When you organise a gender reveal party, to who and where do you announce the gender of your soon-to-be baby?
After your delivery, to whom and where do you share the photos of your cute little baby with?
To whom and where do you share the videos of your baby babbling and sleeping?
If you are an Instamum, the answers to all the questions above are undoubtedly Instagram and also other social media platforms.
While it is common to share personal news and significant life events online, we should be mindful to not bombard our friends and followers with too many stories and feeds.
If you love sharing your daily moments with your children online, you can either:
- upload your children’s videos or pictures doing their daily routine selectively, preferably not more than three stories or feeds per day
- have a separate account for sharing updates about your children.
With this, your friends and followers can be comfortable with the content you share.
And they can choose whether to follow another account in which you share more about your children’s daily lives.
#3: Never compare your family with other Instamums’ families
Way before we become a mother, we may have fallen into the trap of social comparison because of social media.
Looking into your friend’s posting on travelling abroad and stories on buying luxurious products can certainly kill us mentally.
It kills you too when you are an Instamum. Looking into other Instamums, constantly sharing their joyous moments with their little ones, you might wonder and even doubt yourself when you struggle with motherhood.
However, you need to understand that social media does not always offer the true side of motherhood.
Given a choice, most of us would surely post good or happy things on Instagram. Most of us do not know how to share frustrating moments appropriately online to make us look less vulnerable.
Thus, you should not judge yourself because of a false sense of happiness created by social content. Instead, be true to yourself.
It’s fine and common to have a bad day as a mother. It’s fine and common to feel depressed and frustrated as a mother. To inspire more mothers, be open about your struggle online.
Invite more Instamums to share their challenges as a mother.
With this, you can have an empowering motherhood community that supports each other during difficult times.
#4: Never force yourself and your children to being perfect
Do not feel depressed whenever you see gorgeous photos of Instamums in their beautiful homes, with their adorable babies. Instead, be grateful for what you have and be confident of what you can offer your children.
Never stop loving your postpartum body whenever you scroll through perfect photos of influencers parading their slimmed-down version after delivery.
Keep your exercise and diet routine to maintain a healthy body image, along with affirmative words.
Do not always critic your cooking skills whenever you see food postings from other mums, serving their families tantalising and scrumptious looking food.
Alternatively, be certain that you will be able to prepare healthy and delicious dishes with constant practice.
Never yell at your children if they throw tantrums while you see stories of other children behaving well. Find out their source of tantrum and educate them the right way to express their feelings.
Do not nag your children just because you see social media updates of other children getting multiple awards and recognitions.
Instead, encourage your children to discover and pursue their interest and passion, no matter how long it takes for them to succeed.
Be mindful that there’s always going to be someone doing it better than you online.