To me, the Internet is both a blessing and a curse for parenting.

I hate to admit this, but Google helped me survive the newborn phase of parenting.

Social media can prove to be helpful, too. I’m part of a few Facebook mommy groups and I really do find it useful. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in this journey, and what’s happening with my body and my kid is most likely normal.

Aaaaand that’s probably where the pros end for me.

Baby Milestones

I have a love/hate relationship with baby milestones. Sure, they’re only guidelines to give you an idea of where your baby should be in terms of development. But I also find that it gives me more anxiety than it should.

For example, babies can start walking as early as 10 months, and most will probably start walking well by 15 months.

Xavier is 18 months, and while he can walk a few steps, he’s still more comfortable crawling at this age.

So you can only imagine how the anxious mom in me feels when I look at my social media feeds and see my friends’ babies walking well at 12 months.

Again… none of this stuff matters, and yes, I shouldn’t feel jealous, but sometimes I just do.

“Oversharenting”

The main reason why I put up with Facebook and all their shit is to really just keep in touch with my family back home.

But thanks to the almighty algorithms, I get to see acquaintances (and some extended family members) share every little detail about their little one(s).

And I’m not the only one who’s noticed. This Parents article mentions the term “oversharenting”, and I couldn’t believe it was a thing.

I get it. We have the freedom to share whatever we want online. There’s also a feature called  “Unfollow”.

My Catholic upbringing taught me not to judge people, but I am sorry… Lord, I can’t help it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if people tend to overshare when it’s their first child. But whenever they do, I can’t help but roll my eyes and think: Are you going to post the same amount of updates for your second one?

The following statement is not at all based on scientific fact, but I think most parents tend to post less about the subsequent kids than their first. This leads me to believe it is why I can never remember the name of your second kid.

First world problems

Though I’ve been spending less time on Facebook due to my resolution to unplug from my phone, I’ve seen my fair share of thought-provoking parenting articles come up on my feed.

Some provide value. Some presented an alternative viewpoint that made me re-consider my stance. And in my opinion, some were written simply to promote hysteria.

Excuse me while I get off my high horse, but I just wanna say – my worldly travels have taken me to places where the locals are living below the poverty line.

I would observe the poor, local children wandering the streets, and surprise! Most of them could walk, talk, and are potty trained! I’m pretty sure they accomplished these milestones on their own timeline, without special accelerated programs or fancy toys.

While the western world has come far in parenting, I think it tends to overanalyze and make parents worry about the smallest things. There’s all this advice and marketing thrown at us, and more often than not I have to stop and think: “Is this really necessary?”

Bottom line: I’m fortunate to live in an age where parenting resources are easily accessible. At the same time, there’s a lot of noise out there, which means exercising good judgement is more important than ever. No pressure!