Objects on Instagram are Not as Perfect as They Appear

A few weeks ago, someone left a comment on one of my Instagram posts that bothered me.

"The perfect family!!" They wrote.

While it was meant to be a compliment, it didn't sit well with me.  Not because of them... but because of me. Had my posts been portraying a perfect family?  Was I guilty of being too sunshine-and-rainbows on social media?  I purposely try NOT to only post the good on my blog/Facebook/Instagram.  In fact, it absolutely drives me crazy when I see other people portraying their lives as being so darn perfect.

It drives me crazy because I get caught in the trap - why don't we do that?  Why don't I have that?  Why doesn't our life look like that?  Why isn't that happening to us?

Comparison is the thief of joy.  And in today's social media-crazed world, it's impossible not to get caught up in other people's LOOK AT MY LIFE IT'S SO WONDERFUL highlight reels on Facebook.

So when I even thought, for one second, someone out there imagines us as the "perfect" (shudder) family, I wanted to immediately shout:  NO!  NO WE ARE NOT!  WE ARE SOOOO FAR FROM PERFECT!

I am stubborn, and often too short-tempered with the ones I love the most.  My husband and I have a wonderful and strong marriage, but we absolutely argue.  I am a terrible cook.  I watch too much tv.  More often than not, I'm in a ratty t-shirt, running shorts, no makeup, and my hair desperately needs to be washed.  I'm never on time anymore.  I bribe CK to do any and everything (especially smile for a picture to post).  There's a huge pile of maternity clothes still sitting on my closet floor because I'm too lazy to put them in the attic.  Most of our walls are still bare, even though we moved into this house almost two years ago...

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Today is a great example.

Today we went to a local farm to do all things fall. It.was.awesome.  Petting zoo, feeding animals, slides, a corn maze, a hayride, pumpkin picking... it was, truly, a picture-perfect fall morning.

And then...

On the way home I heard E's signature I'm-going-#2-noises.  No big deal, I thought.  And then I had to roll the windows down... that can't be good, I thought.

Y'all.

There was so much poop EVERYWHERE that when I got him out of his car seat to take him upstairs, it was running down my arms.

But wait, there's more.

As I took him to the tub, I rounded the upstairs corner and saw it...

A shredded poop diaper with its contents all over the hallway.  Somehow, someway, my dog found a dirty diaper and WENT TO TOWN.

Both kids were screaming, there was poop on ALL THE THINGS.  And I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry or take a shot of vodka.

(And if I wasn't taking E to the pediatrician this afternoon I absolutely would've had a midday beverage.)

So just know, when you see pictures of our wonderful morning at Ol' McDermitt's Farm... the rest of the day was pretty crappy (pun intended).

With all my heart, I don't want anyone to ever, ever, ever think we've got it all together in the Peele house.  At any given moment, it looks like Toys 'R Us threw up in my living room, Everette is eating a bug, CK is crying because her sleeves don't pull all the way down, I'm crunching our budget to figure out how to make it the last few days of the month, the washer is running to clean the clothes I put in there three days ago and forgot about, and a frozen pizza is cooking (and probably burning) in the oven.

So no, we're not perfect... not even close.  And please don't let anything I ever say/write/post give you that impression.  I try to be real and raw and transparent and open and honest, all of the time.  You never know what is really going on behind someone's Facebook post, so let's not get wrapped up in the awful game of comparison.  The grass is NOT greener.  Your grass - brown spots and pinecones and bugs and all of it's imperfections - your grass is just fine.  <3

Aw, so cute:

Reality: