A Little Pintereality

Pinterest can be a dangerous thing. A really dangerous thing. It gives my imagination a place to run wild, to envision my life in an idealized way - dream up a delicious meal, design my dream home or a closet full of perfect outfits.

What seems to be missing from Pinterest, which makes it dangerous in my book, is a little dose of reality. Sure that cheesecake recipe looks delicious, but how difficult is it to make? That outfit is adorable, and maybe the better version of myself could afford the $300 flats and $200 jeans included. Those kid activities sound like lots of fun, but has anyone actually tried them??

Pinterest sometimes makes me feel guilty about my 'real' self. I look through fashion pins and think, "You sure don't look like that when you leave the house." Or makeup and hairstyles thinking, "You haven't dried your hair once this week." And pins of kid crafts and activities, thinking to myself, "Why aren't you doing more?? Sure, Nolan is still a baby, but these other bloggers seem to have it all together. They're finding all sorts of activities for their babies. Shouldn't I be doing the same?"

Well, this morning, Pinterest got a little dose of reality inside my kitchen.

A few days ago, I found a baby activity on Pinterest - yogurt finger painting. Simply put colorful yogurt on your baby's highchair tray, and let him go nuts for a fun sensory experience. When I clicked the pinned activity, which took me to the original post, I noticed something interesting. The blog provided the idea for the activity, but it definitely DID NOT share pictures or any follow up about how the activity actually played out. This blog will.

First off, I decided on this activity for a few reasons:
1) Nolan had a major diaper blowout this morning (how's that for real?). This meant that his clothes were unwearable. Instead of changing into a new outfit right away, why not yogurt paint?
2) The highchair was already filthy. If I was going to throw the chair pad into the washer, why not give it a little yogurt crust on top of the carrots, peas, cereal...?

So with a naked baby and a dirty high chair, yogurt painting began. I mixed plain yogurt with a few drops of food coloring, and dropped spoonfuls onto the highchair tray. Nolan went NUTS. Slapping the yogurt with his palms, flicking the yogurt at Cooper (the dog) and the walls, running the yogurt through his hair.

 Yes, that's strawberry all over his face/body. No, he's not one yet. Yes, the doctor okayed it. :)

It was adorable. It was fun. It was messy.

Yogurt was everywhere - all over the baby, all over the dog, all over the floor, all over the walls. Everywhere. And the 'real' version of myself didn't care one bit.

Pinterest sometimes makes me feel like life should be neat and tidy, like I should be preparing picture perfect meals, in my picture perfect house, while my picture perfect kid keeps himself busy with educational and engaging games. Well, I think I'm finding ways to fit "perfect" Pinterest into my not so perfect "real" world.