Life...After facebook

It was the day before we were planning to start school, and I panicked a little. I had done so little to prepare. I mean, my first week's lessons were pretty much written out. The books were not only ordered, but actually already in the house and I had even leafed through most of them. The school table was cleared off, we had sharpened pencils and all necessary software was loaded and ready to go.

But still, I didn't feel ready. I felt like I was missing something critical, and when I realized what it was, I almost kicked myself into a last minute frenzy of Dollar Tree + Pinterest + MAYBE THE PRINTER WILL WORK IF I JUST HIT IT HARDER madness.

I had forgotten neglected to prepare any over-the-top Back to School cuteness. No matching dresses. No special breakfasts. No adorable "First Day Of..." printouts for pictures. There were no treats awaiting my children at all - just a "good morning, I think we have some Eggos" and "Here's your new Penmanship book, go ahead and get started!"

This would not do. I began to brainstorm and make a shopping list. Surely I could still find something to create a memory with at Publix after 8 pm on a Sunday, right? I'd probably need tissue paper and more printer ink to prove my worth as a caring homeschool mom and OH gosh, it's not just a first day, it's a first day of MIDDLE SCHOOL...I really need something special for those pictures.

"Wait, what pictures?" I asked myself.

"You know, the pictures you want to put on facebook tomorrow, about how sweet your school table looks on the first day," I answered myself.

"Oh, you silly girl," I consoled myself, relieved. "You're not on facebook anymore. No one will know."

And with that, I exhaled, plopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV.

If you'd asked before that Sunday night, I wouldn't have considered myself someone in the habit of doing something for the benefit of a facebook audience. I'd have said I was "creating a memory" - but what I might actually have been doing was "creating a picture to make myself look good."

The first day of school is a pretty big deal, and it's a nice idea to commemorate it. But instead of pulling an all-nighter this time, I took an incomplete. And when our first day of school was over and I was already out doing errands, I ran into a local gift shop and picked out a little something for each of the girls. And I let THEM wrap it. No pictures. No hole-punching, graphic designing, confetti. No cute plays on words, themed candies, treats shaped like apples or school buses or books. Just school work, a little something to let the girls know I was thinking about them, and freedom.

I have friends who legitimately do adorable things because they can't help themselves. And I love them. I want to be them. Chances are that they only post 3% of the adorable things they do. But I'm not there yet, or at least on this occasion, I wasn't there. On this occasion, I was guilty of planning to create something adorable for the express purpose of posting it for others to see. But I had saved myself the trouble by deactivating a few days before.

So, life-after-facebook observation #1: Being facebook-free means I am free to do things only because I want to do them.