Every good and perfect kid… can be found on their mother’s Facebook page. It’s true. Facebook has become a showcase for perfect children. My perfect children show up there, and so do yours. The kids I have that are total screw-ups will never grace my page. Their antics will forever be hidden from public view. Why is this? I don’t want anyone to know that I might have raised some kids who make mistakes. Not so much because I want to protect them, as much as I want to protect me.

I allude to these less than perfect ones in mostly vague posts that ask for nonspecific prayers for my sanity, or for the lives of those undisclosed shadow children- that I might not end their earthly existence sooner than later. I might make veiled references to the struggles of motherhood, but you will never see a photo of my hands around a child’s throat or of their heads hung low after a missed curfew, or poor grade, or whatever. Should my kids ever have a mug shot, you will not see it posted on my Facebook page. No amount of Photoshopping could put a positive spin on that.

If my kids are ever in need of a self-image boost, they need only visit their mother’s Facebook page and take a stroll down memory lane. There they will see a collection of their mom’s treasured moments. Those moments when they made me smile, won an award, accomplished something noteworthy or contributed to society in some meaningful way.

Before Facebook, my oldest son would make a habit of keeping all the birthday cards sent to him by grandparents, aunts and uncles. When he doubted himself or had a bad day, he would go to his room, shut the door, read them all, and remind himself how great he really is. Now he has his mom’s Facebook page for that. Everything noteworthy or mentionable he has done since he was thirteen is recorded for posterity there on Facebook. He will find no mention of any disappointments, failures, or shortcomings there.

Not.

One.

Word.

Only pictures of happy times, and proud momma moments, will be found.

The same is true for all of my children. Good and perfect, they are. This is not a post about how we should just be real about our kids and be willing to be more transparent about the failings of all of our kids and post those on Facebook.

Quite the contrary.

As mothers, we all know those perfect children we see who live in the homes of our Facebook friends are actually no more perfect than the imperfect scoundrels who sometimes take up residence in our own homes.

I just think it’s probably good to be reminded of that occasionally. We cannot fall for the lie that everyone else has perfect kids and we are complete failures as moms because ours don’t look like those we see on Facebook. As mothers, we will always put the best of our kids out there for others to see and consume. I think that’s just fine. In a world hell bent on tearing us down, there needs to be a place where we can go find a more edifying picture of who we are.

There used to be a saying that if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. I’d like to say, if God had a Facebook page, all your best moments would be listed there for the world to see, while none of your lowly, disrespectful, disobedient, sinful moments would be mentioned.

So post those photos, brag on those perfect kids all you can! And when you post that nonspecific prayer request for patience, sanity, or self-control, we’ll know. We will all know, and we will pray with you. Because we all have some imperfect kids in our house who go through things we won’t post on Facebook, and tomorrow it might be us posting a request for prayer!