When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I would daydream about all of the amazing, Pinterest inspired celebrations I would host for her. I could just see the perfectly colored cake pops, the feature tables and homemade costumes as clear as day. Then she made her grand debut. And after a short time, I realized I was wrong, I was not the Pinterest mom I thought I would be.

It turns out that I was spending all of my time keeping her dry, fed, napping, and happy that I had no time for the Pinterest dreams I had before her arrival. As she got older, I recognized that when I did try to be fancy my daughter was way more interested in the store-bought piñata in the backyard then the hand pressed lemonade that we were serving. And the only time my child has worn a homemade costume is when my sister volunteered to make it.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy celebrating my children. I want to make their day special. However, I have been learning how to let go of my previous expectations of perfection for said events. I can tell you that my mom held a family birthday party for me every year as a child long before the existence of Pinterest and I still loved it.

Social media has created this unrealistic view of what the ideal kid birthday, costume, vacation, etc is! We are so darn hard on ourselves that when something doesn’t turn out Pinterest worthy it can ruin our whole memory of the day. Children want to feel safe. They want to be loved. They want to feel celebrated. However, they do not care if the color scheme of the cupcakes matches the tablecloths. I am working hard to get back to what the holidays, birthdays and celebrations were meant to be: a time for family and friends to be truly present and celebrate one another.

So, no I’m not the Pinterest mom that I once hoped I would be but I’m still a darn good one.

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