To detest FAMILY day out, FAMILY meal, FAMILY fun!

[lulucappuccino]

Why do some people use the word "Family" to describe everyday activities?

I come across it on MN, Facebook and often irl.

I mean, the kind of families who do everything together anyway.

"Oh, we had a great family holiday". You never go on holiday separately and haven't for fifteen years.

"I made a really tasty pasta bake. #familymealtimes." As opposed to any other type of meal you ever have.

"We enjoy family day outs at the local arboretum."

Etc, etc.

Don't get me started on "Quality time".

I'm going to have some quality family time now, mumsnetting.

Brilliant thread.

There was a funny thread the other day where someone got very upset that her attempt to make memories had failed. She'd tried to drag her dc out of bed to watch the meteor shower and they were having none of it.

I have an fb friend who is constantly #makingmemories and #blessed and #lovinglife. Something happened once and she was "absaloutly fuming". In fact she switches from #blessed to #fuming regularly.

She also once ranted that she'd heard a parent at school telling her dc he needed to work hard at school and that she wasn't happy about some assessment or something. It was "discusting" that the dc was expected to do well at school. The "poor baba" shouldn't be pressurised.

I confess I took the bait. Her friend Sally mybabysaremyworld Green didn't like me suggesting that it's not a bad idea to encourage a child to aim to reach their potential.

OP I have a friend who posts or did post every meal or drink out she had, but mostly on whatsapp... It got slightly annoying because as soon as her or my food arrived (normally pub lunch burger or Sunday roast or glass of Pimms) she'd want to photograph it before eating it (so made me wait!) or wanted to photograph mine! I told her "I don't do photographing my beverages/food and sharing them on social media".

I think sometimes with her it was a foodie point (she loves her food and drink) but also showed to others where she went and what she ate, I just don't see the point even if it's to Heston's The Fat Duck (which I enjoyed!).

Oh yes. Photos of food. Every course. Just eat your fecking meal.

One of my friends has a 'first name,mommabear,last name ' on her friends list

I don't have children, and it really annoys me when a tourist spot says 'great for all the family', and what they mean is plenty for children to do. All there is for the adults is to sit and watch the kids.

there's a couple I know who constantly update facebook when they are out #cocktailsonaschoolnight #naughtyus, and everyone is like "oh good for you both!!!".... they are always posing in the accompanying pictures, also update every weekend away or night away #togethertime#datenight

I'd bet my last 50p they are both shagging anything that moves and cant stand each other, anyone needing to constantly pose together is too desperate for attention they arent getting at home

I love DH and my DD - but I don't need to constantly post that on Facebook.
And as for making memories - well memories seem to be so random when we grow up, recall almost nothing before I was 6 and there's 8mm films my uncle took of us all on holiday - I don't remember them!
The adults do, so maybe it's their memories.
I don't like Facebook as I don't want to look at the contents of other people's heads all the time.

However the BBC Archive project for people with dementia shows that looking at photos can prompt memory recall so all those photos may come in useful someday, but probably not the cupcake ones.

the photos on fb are probably used more in divorce proceedings rather anything else

YAsoNBU, OP. "Family time" takes me straight back to the claustrophobia of being stuck in a tiny village with no other kids my age and nothing to do. The horror, the horror.

....and custody battles

#youhavethem

I have found my people!

This. Thank you for the thread, OP - I thought it was just me.

I think a lot of people me use hashtags ironically too which is why FB, whatsapp and emails are full of them. Not the #feelingblessed crew, they are perfectly sincere.

Maybe it just depends how much you like the person who's doing it? I only have a couple of serious hashtaggers on my fb. One of them is just massively over the top in real life, but in a good way, such that I can't imagine anyone not liking her. The other I know struggles with anxiety and depression on and off, so if she's posting positive things I actually don't care about the way she says it, I'm just happy to know that she's in a good way, IYKWIM. If it helps her reinforce that feeling for herself, good on her, frankly.
Having said that I ruthlessly unfollow anyone on FB I find remotely annoying online, regardless of whether I like them in RL, which may help

Ok - now this might be going a little far off topic - but I also cringe at FB eulogy type things. If I suffered a bereavement there's absolutely no chance I'd be posting a message to the dead person on my FB page. Just wouldn't occur to me. And some people seem to do it almost instantly. I find it quite strange and uncomfortable - but I guess it gives some people comfort.

I think it also depends on the person who has died. I have posted nothing at all about my dm's death but she hated social media/ Facebook.

AnnieOnAMapleLeaf, thanks so much for that motivational themes meme. I've nicked it for use next time my personal Juiceplus bot posts her usual motivational crap.

If she irritates you so much why be gee friend? I love seeing pictures of my friends having days out with their children even to the park. I would not refer to my friend as "these people"in such a way and hope they wouldn't do it either

Too many brilliant posts to comment on.

I don't know how people manage to have family movie days, we rarely manage to all sit down, teenage DC skulking in room, dp fidgeting and finding something else to do.

What I'm hating more at the moment is the mum blogs on Facebook banging on about drinking gin, kids constantly referred to as shits (I mean I do these things too) it's all the time and is frankly boring. There seems to be loads of them

Holibobs
Famalam
Blessed
Feeling blessed
Makingmemories
Family time
My little family
Date Night
No filter
Living the dream
Babe
Feeling sad (with no explanation) promoting responses like oh what's hun
Posts with quotes like 'Sometimes you have to let go of people who dull your sparkle' or such rubbish.

Love this thread

Oh god I'd forgotten about #datenight... Is there anything more vom inducing what's even worse is #datenightwithmylittleman... Urgh

faraway am actually cringing reading your list. Ugh. Am on train and people are wondering what's wrong with me! I also hate 'sleeps' now - as in 4 more sleeps. It was cute when it first came out but annoying now.

About a year ago a few families we know moved out of the area, all to more or less the same place. Only about 8 miles away and to a slightly smaller town, but they all keep plastering FB with over-posed photos of them on mountain bikes and hashtags like #ruralparadise and #lovewherewelive.

Does my head in. They're still not rural, the men all still commute to bloody Waterloo every morning and the only reason they actually moved was because they could get a bigger house for their money by being 8 miles further outside London. Yet every weekend there they are banging on about how #blessed they are.

Boring day here, kids on sofa, watching Dr Who with me, eating crap. Now off to walk around a random place for a bit.

#familyduvetday #thewhoistfamily #familyfuninthepark

Thankyou for explaining the facebook hashtag everybird - the instagram link makes sense. I'm susrpised I've never seen one, given hoe prevalent they seem to be from this thread and the sadly ridiculous number of facebook acquaintances friends I have

I've scoured my newsfeed for hashtags this morning and can't find a single one. #friendswithsense #smug #sanityprevails

Searching for random hashtags has given me a good half hour of procrastination though!