To say that you can take your Instagram homeschooling smugness and

[sparklefarts]

Fuck off??

Well am I unreasonable?!?

People I know in real life who I always thought of as lovely seem to have developed a need to post every single bit of homeschooling on insta with smug happy children, all smiles and love and look at our little wonderful bubble.

I know behind the scenes it's probably not quite as all smiles as they suggest.

Most of it seems to be 'look at me I thought of this fantastic activity for my delightful smiling easy children'
It's bullshit isn't it?

But what compels people to do it??

I'm not even that bitter. We're doing OK with homeschooling. We post the work to the teachers teams page and that's that. I know lots of people are struggling so would never dream of posting how brilliant it is everywhere (it isn't brilliant)

Maybe I just needed that rant.

My nephew once gave my sister a black eye when he was about two because she was forcing him to pose for pictures on the beach, he had a temper tantrum and in the midst of writhing punched her in the face.

She uploaded photos to Instagram of 'perfect day with my perfect boy' of clips throughout the day when he didn't look to be being a little sod whilst sitting on her settee with peas on her eye.

Social media is a lie never believe it.

YANBU. But don't take it personally. People are just trying to feel better.

A bit like "fake it until you make it"?

Pictures of my two learning from home would include - ds1 minimizing teams and playing Spore and I didn't realise as I was dealing with ds2, the many tantrums of ds2, ds1 playing hunt the pencil, ds2 having more tantrums and both of them having a fight.
I'm in the background very fed up.

I enjoy imagining the irony of them ignoring their kids whilst they spent hours uploading said photos into fb/ig and incessantly checking back for likes and comments 😂

And some peoples lack of self awareness is astounding!

YANBU. I just imagine them saying “sit there you little shits so Mummy looks good”. As soon as the photo has been taken Mummy no longer gives a shit and is more focused on how many likes she has.

I have found that the amount people post on social media about how happy they are is inversely proportional to how happy they actually are. Almost without exception.

Partly it’s about reframing your day to make yourself feel better. We see everyone else on Instagram posting 3 pictures and believe their whole day was wonderful. So if I also post 3 good pictures of my day I can make myself believe that my day was also pretty good. Or at least not demonstrably worse than anyone else’s.

@Buddytheelf85,

I like your theory but unfortunately, despite not using social media, I'm not happy .

But that's probably just me.

Why are people so bitter?

Some people are lonely, some parents are bored out of their head, some parents are putting a lot of effort in homeschooling, good for them. Some even have friends and family who are supportive and enjoy being in touch that way!

If I had someone like you following me OP, I think I would make stuff up and post JUST to wind up

It's hard, and juggling homeschooling and a full time job is a pain in the backside, but not all of us are having an nightmare either, sorry to burst your little bubble of misery.

Just unfollow them OP. Insta is nauseating at the best of times.

If people are having a blast homeschooling or being stuck at home well, great, but no need to blast it to all and sundry. My friend put on a post the other day asking people please to be aware, her husband committed suicide last year and she’s at home with toddler twins and an older child doing it all by herself. That’s an extreme example but a bit of sensitivity that not everyone is able to make a success out of it wouldn’t go amiss.

I must have more honest friends than most people here - I just see "home schooling is hell - send gin" type posts

There was an uproar on parenting group about a photo used by the BBC to illustrate homeschooling. The actors on the photos were sitting at a table, dressed with clothes and the children were not throwing everything across the room. Apparently it wasn't real life

Not everyone slobs around in their pjs all day or is having a tantrum about homeschooling the kids they chose to have. It's not ideal, but come on, not everyone is taking the lazy option 😂

I have a Facebook/Instagram acquaintance who homeschools and boy is she smug every day about how amazing her little mummy's boy is. She also boasts about every other aspect of her life too the fact she has an amazing fiancée, drives a Porsche etc etc I suppose I could just unfollow her........

Maybe they got 5 mins of compliant, happy kids and wanted to take a photo to remind them that it hasn't been a complete shit show of a day?

Or maybe they're showing off and their kids have been like that all day and they are finding homeschool easier than others?

A photo shows a moment of someone's life, nothing more or less. Either unfollow or scroll on by

but a bit of sensitivity that not everyone is able to make a success out of it wouldn’t go amiss

I am sorry, but if you have difficult circumstances, it's really on you to get out of social media. People are allowed to be happy for whatever reason and post what they want about their own life. Sending your friend a photo of your wedding day would be beyond vile, but posting a photo of your wedding on your anniversary and a photo of whatever you are doing to celebrate is fine.

I used to post on insta most days. Showing different activities etc.

My family loved to see it.

My reason for doing it was so my family could see it, but also as I hoped that it would give other people ideas. As a person I’m very creative and love to find new ways to interact with my kids and stimulate them.

I stopped posting about a year ago. When one of my really close friends confided in me that she thinks she is a rubbish mum cause she would hate to use that much time with her kids doing those kind of things. My heart sank. I genially just want to share ideas! I love finding new ideas online.

So after that chat I stopped posting online. I would never want another person so feel bad about who they are. As parents we are all different. She is an amazing mum! Her kids love to read for hours, mine don’t! Her kids eat almost every type of food, mine hate fish.

If I were you I would look past it and look at your strengths.

Home schooling is challenging. For everyone. But we can do our best and be ourselves. 😊

Yes we were told by our school to email home learning to the teacher but some feel compelled to share every aspect of their child's achievements of the day to the school fucking Facebook page!!

YABU- I see far, far more people moaning about homeschooling on Instagram than bragging

I posted the meme on my FB page which said something like "if you see my kids locked outside mind your own business. Today we're having a homeschool fire drill".

I think that's a lot more representative of how people are actually feeling. People who have work and stuff to manage, I mean.

I’m not on Instagram and I temporarily unfollow the perfect home schoolers on FB. Easy. I’ve got enough angst in my life without comparing someone’s edited highlights to my real life.

@ithinkyouareveryrude that's hilarious

It's possible to count the minutes until the kids go back to school and not finding homeschool the worst possible thing that could happen.

At least this time we are prepared, surely it's much easier now, you are more organised and make things work.

I refuse to believe I am the only person who has real friends and actually enjoy seeing their posts! At least it's a distraction

It might help that I don't have a chip on my shoulder, if I see some amazing activity and creation they've made, I am not jealous and bitter, I think good for them, even if I can't be arsed to even attempt it.

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

but a bit of sensitivity that not everyone is able to make a success out of it wouldn’t go amiss

I am sorry, but if you have difficult circumstances, it's really on you to get out of social media. People are allowed to be happy for whatever reason and post what they want about their own life. Sending your friend a photo of your wedding day would be beyond vile, but posting a photo of your wedding on your anniversary and a photo of whatever you are doing to celebrate is fine.

Agree with above. So they are happy and get their validation by posting on fb/Instagram their photos, others get their happy and validation by posting on sm being negative about the fb/insta posters! Its all good!