Parents, I have seen a lot of posts lately about your kids. I admit, it strikes me often as over-sharing. Recently I had a small disagreement with a popular blogger who thought it was okay - even funny - to post her toddler on the toilet. Now wait. I bet our parents all have pictures of us going to the loo right? Maybe. But this was different. This child was on the toilet - screaming and crying in pain! What did her mother do? She snapped a photo to further embarrass the child. After that? Well next she shared this picture of her daughter in pain with the world in a public social media posting. It's been viewed by thousands of people. I commented, as it was public, that I thought she had went a step too far since her child was obviously in pain. But hey, I guess I missed the entertainment aspect of a child in pain! The blogger then directed an entire blog post towards me and how I made her feel bad for 5 minutes. Five minutes? How long did her child sit there on that toilet crying while she snapped pictures?!
Also recently I saw a video shared by a father who was telling his young son that his mother had just died....of a drug overdose. This father had an opportunity to be a great parent here folks. This should have been a private moment between father and son. But no. He had someone filming it. The child was upset. I cannot even find words for how upset that child was. Of course he was upset. He was in pain. His mother is dead. Dead! But instead of privately telling his son, and consoling him, and helping him through this pain; Daddy filmed it and posted it out to the world on social media. This was, he says, to bring awareness to the drug problem we have. Well I have a hint for him - we are all aware. There are other ways besides using your child's most painful and raw moment! Do you think this child wants his true moment of sadness, grief, and pain watched by the world? No, he needed his Daddy to be a Daddy. It was not the time to raise awareness for the public. This is not the way.
At another time I saw a video of a small child who got hit hard, right in the face, by a snowball. I know, I know. How hurt could she be, right? Well the child looked barely two years old. The snowball hit her face and she immediately screamed, grabbed her face and cried. This baby sobbed and screamed in pain. The mother? Oh she was there, filming the entire event. She did not drop her camera and run to console her child; to make sure she was alright. Nope. She just kept the video rolling. Afterwards she shared it on YouTube for the world to see.
There are many more examples I could share. But I think you've all seen them. I'm even starting to feel badly for all those "my child is crying because..." posts. Sure they're funny. Your child is crying because she can't find her socks when she is clearly wearing her socks. I get it. I've fallen into the "over sharing" category myself a few times. But as a parent, I have come to realize that not everything needs to be shared with the whole world. When our children are having issues, perhaps the thing to do is help them, rather than take photos?
Our children are the most important thing. We should treat them with love and respect. We should sympathize when they are in pain. Does it matter if we think that pain is imagined? No. No it does not. If they say they're in pain, we need to console them. They're our children! Too many people out there are using their own children, and their pain, their compromising positions even, for entertainment and awareness. We need to all start thinking about this as we go through life. Sure our children do funny stuff, even brilliant stuff. We want to share it! But there are some moments in life where things should be kept private, quiet, calm. There are times when we need to TAKE the opportunity placed before us to show our kids we love them. Drop your cameras sometimes parents. Pick up your child. Kiss and hug her when she is in pain. Take that opportunity! She will remember how much you loved her in that moment. Those memories will last a lifetime in your heart and in hers. The pictures - sure they might last as well. But your children may not be happy to see them later and to learn that thousands have seen them as well.
Be Blessed,
GypsyMama
