You Might Need A Social Media Break If...

1. "Idiots" tweet/update stupid things and you feel an overwhelming urge to choke your smartphone.
2. Their "idiot friends" comment/reply on/to these updates and you experience extreme eye-rolling to the extent that it brings on a migraine.
3. Every blog post is either "rife with sniveling snark" OR the "most profound thing you've ever read!" -- there is no in-between.
4. Not only do you ignore/postpone interactions with your kids, but you feel anger towards them when they interrupt a genius comment you are typing out re: nurturing motherhood.
5. Husband? What husband?
6. You get excited for bathroom trips because it means you can have uninterrupted time with the iPad.
7. Ditto for nursing the baby.
8. You can load the dishwasher AND play on Facebook at the same time.
9. You realize you are justifying your time online with phrases that sound a lot like an alcoholic justifying her trips to the bar.
10. People online have taken A LOT of precedence over your family and friends -- and, on most days, it seems like a relief.

If this sounds a lot like you, please consider joining me in giving up Facebook and Twitter for Lent.

Truthfully, I can't wait to see the way my life improves!

Crackbook

Well, I did it. I bit the bullet. As part of my Lenten sacrifice this year, I gave up Crackbook.. ahem, I mean FACEBOOK for the full 40 days. To those of you who don't participate in this social networking "stuff", or only participate peripherally (how do you do that?!), this may not seem like a big deal.

You're probably saying, "OK, so what? So, for 40 days you don't read about 100+ people and their hourly trials about being exhausted or cold. So what if you can't find out what kind of mom you are (Crunchy Granola, by the way!); don't you know already have that figured out? Who cares if you don't update everyone about how many diapers you've changed today?" And, you know what? You're right!

However, that's precisely why I gave all of that up. It was wasting my time! Every chance I got, I would check email and then bounce over to Facebook and try to keep up with all of the updates, quizzes, games, and posted pictures since my last check-in... 15 minutes before that! There are so many other things a busy mother of 6 could, and should, be doing.

Here's my problem, though: I thought it would be hard. Really hard. I thought that I would be offering up some really difficult thing by not participating in my favorite time-waster. But, it's not hard. Not at all. Hmmmm....

While, Facebook has been a wonderful way to reconnect with old grade school friends, catch up with current friends, and have mini-cyber-family reunions, it has mostly been a way for me to avoid doing the things I hate doing. Namely, laundry and dishes.

Now, don't get me wrong. The laundry and dishes get done. But, they get done at the very last minute, in a hurry, and with a really bad attitude because I have let everything accumulate.

After 2 days of no FB, I figured out that the true sacrifice was cheerfully doing all of the things I had ignored while playing online. I found that if I smile while I throw a load of laundry in or fill the dishwasher, the chore seems less onerous and goes more quickly. I also find that I stopped muttering things like, "Oh, why can't someone invent disposable clothes?" or "Do we really have to eat dinner every night?". Sounds simple? Try it some time! You'll be amazed at how difficult it is to smile through a hated task, and even more amazed at how much better you feel once you DO smile!

Keep in mind that part of my kids' chores include doing dishes and laundry, so it's not even as if I have to do all of the dishes and laundry. Sheesh! I'm a real whiner, aren't I?

So, I guess what I really gave up for Lent was complaining?????