Pinterest Delusion Disorder
Pinterest Delusion Disorder (PDD) – A serious disease in which moms start thinking they are failures for not (1) arranging their kids’ food in cool shapes for every meal, (2) not DIYing every piece of furniture and art in their homes, and (3) not spending hours designing homemade printables for their children.
Sound familiar?
Pinterest has become the newest source for mommy disillusionment. In between the carefully crafted meals that correspond with whatever book you are reading to your kids and the mom-designed printables that look like they came from a Kumon book, it is easy to start thinking you need to start saving for a therapy fund for your kids. How can they possibly turn into high functioning adults without you teaching them how to make a headboard from recycled toilet paper rolls?
I love Pinterest. Please do not misunderstand me. I have pinned plenty of stuff that I have both done and admittedly will never ever do {along with some super cute clothes…sue me…I can be superficial too.}. It is a place to gather inspiration while simultaneously making me wonder if there are some moms who live some place that has more than 24 hours in a day, and if there is how does one buy a ticket to said place.
It is both a homeschooler’s best friend and worst nightmare. It is so easy to see all of these cool crafts and worksheets and book lists and immediately think “who has time for this?” as you check Pinterest from your phone while your daughter is in her piano lesson and before you start paying bills from an app on your phone.
Supermoms exist. Let’s not pretend they don’t. They are fueled by coffee, cleaning ladies, and midsized SUVs. I’m not one of them. There are toys all over my house, dishes in my sink, and a full laundry hamper. Our art room looks like Crayola exploded in there with crayons and chalk on the floor and half colored coloring books sitting on a table.
I’m okay with that.
Pinterest gives us the means to compare. Instead of just reading a few blogs and wishing we had those women’s creativity, we are now bombarded with images from thousands of people who have different talents than us. They thrive at making things that I couldn’t make on my very craftiest of days. I pin their stuff all the while thinking “I wonder if there is some place I could buy this…”
That’s okay.
Your kids probably aren’t going to define their childhood by how many times you arranged their lunch like the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree. Or how many printables you designed. Or whether or not their party looked like something Amy Atlas put together.
Sure. They would probably remember cool things, but those aren’t the only ways to create cool memories. You know what else kids think is cool? Bodily functions. So let’s not pretend they are masters of refined taste here.
I don’t remember much about the crafts we did as kids, and I know we did a lot of them. My mom is super crafty, and we had a whole closet completely dedicated to making stuff. I remember conversations we had about school, friends, and boys. I remember the first time she helped me get ready for a dance recital. I remember holding my little brother for the first time. I remember playing American Girl dolls with my sister. I can’t tell you a single thing we ever made. We did sew, but what we made? I have no idea.
I love to do arts and crafts with my son {my daughter is just 3 months}. Absolutely love it, and I have taken more than one idea from Pinterest. We sit and laugh and talk about the colors and shapes, and I eventually take the scissors away from him when he pretends to cut his hair.
However, 10 years from now I doubt he and I will remember the crafts. Instead we will remember the laughter and the stories. I’ll tell him about the first time I realized he had memorized a book, and he will tell me about his first clear memory of us on the floor coloring together. He won’t remember if it was a blank sheet of paper or a fancy coloring book.
Don’t suffer from PDD. Parenting is so much more than fancy crafts and the top 100 ways to get a flat stomach {advice often given by someone who has never had kids thankyouverymuch}. Parenting is smiles and laughter and the intangible memories. Remember that, and you will be PDD free.
Stephanie and her family live in Roswell, Georgia. Originally from the Northeast, Stephanie still hasn’t gotten used to Southern bugs and the word y’all. She loves summer dresses, the kitchen, her husband, her Catholic faith, and a good book. She is active in Junior League of Atlanta and in efforts to stop child trafficking in Georgia. Armed with an English degree and a MBA, Stephanie homeschools her son and has a baby girl. She blogs at The Brunette Foodie.
Great article thank you!!
You are welcome!
YES~ thank you. So, so, so needed. I can often feel this way even just reading blogs. It’s so easy to compare. We live in a weird generation/culture where our lives are open books to millions of people. Never before in history did we live this way. I’ve often wondered how to figure out whether some people are doing their fancy things just to take a picture and then post about it. It becomes skewed. Suddenly, you’re arranging food to look cool online or write a corresponding post, rather than to actually bless your children. It can get murky. I’ve really had to keep myself in check with things like that… just to ensure I’m not becoming consumed in the material ‘wants’. for this very reason, I do not ‘do’ Pinterest. 😉 Great insight. Blessings. Cassandra @ http://www.theunpluggedfamily.com
I totally know what you are saying. My personal blog is mostly food related, and I just don’t have time to take those awesome photos. Instead I open the kitchen windows, turn on the lights, and pray to Jesus that it looks somewhat acceptable after a bit of time in the photo editor.
I’m not good enough at that stuff to do it quickly which means it can’t get done. I’m embracing the messiness!
Love this post! It is so so easy to compare myself to everyone else. And the pictures…oh…they look so beautiful…like right out of a magazine…but whenever I try it just doesn’t work the way it is supposed to! So, now, instead of trying to *do* what the picture says, instead I use it for inspiration, and then do my own thing 🙂
You wrote: “Sure. They would probably remember cool things, but those aren’t the only ways to create cool memories. You know what else kids think is cool? Bodily functions. So let’s not pretend they are masters of refined taste here.”
I’m going to laugh for a week over this one!!!
Thanks for the great message.
Thank you for speaking my mind!!! How often I feel like I have to pull myself out of the puddle I become on the floor after a simple scan of pintrest posts, thinking “I am such a loser! I could never do all that! My poor kids are stuck with ME as a mom!”… I must remember that we all have much more fun realizing & doing the things that I am talented in – such as hiking & playing football & making blanket forts in the living room! And as for cutting my kids’ food into cool shapes? They probably wouldn’t eat it anyway…
Stephanie – this article is awesome and I am going to share. I don’t go on the site because I am afraid I would lose myself there, but I see a lot of stress coming from people on there. Un needed stress.
I LOVE to hear that there are real normal moms out there. I absolutely love pinterest but I was just telling a friend today that I have pinned thousands of things I will never do and maybe never even look at again. You are totally right – it is the doing of the events that our children will remember not the crafts – except what they see in pictures. Really they just want our attention. Thanks for the great post!
First, real, and honest post I’ve read about Pinterest in a LONG time…..I admit, I pin and I read….but…I’m not a super Mom – I don’t have brand new anything…don’t have the money to go buy all the stuff to do all the crafts or make the cool things on there….and my time is precious with my kids….we spend a lot of time building memories….and while I wish I could do all of that stuff, I’m content with being me….and being the Mom I was created to be.