This week, I announced some big changes over on @Insta2yearold; that’s the Instagram account I started when Harlow was two, written and photographed from her perspective. It was really fun back when she was two, but as she’s gotten older, I’ve struggled with what to post over there. Over the past two years, that account started leaning more towards political snark from a child’s perspective, which was also fun, but given the current political landscape, increasingly depressing. And… it occurred to me that I don’t want pre-teen Harlow thinking I am suddenly handing her 88K followers when she’s old enough to use Instagram. And then… Mazzy getting mad that she doesn’t have 88K followers too. Oy. Can you imagine???
Sorry, Mazzy and Harlow. When you each turn thirteen and are allowed to have your own Instagram account, you will both have private accounts that only your real life friends and family follow.
Anyway, I’ve got big plans for Insta2yearold. I imagine it will take a few weeks for my new vision to become clear to everyone, but I’ll do my best to explain it. My goal is to create an account that feels very much in the same tone as @mommyshorts but is not necessarily all about me and my kids. Everyone has always told me that one of their favorite series on my blog is the Monday Morning series, which features the real daily struggles and triumphs of all different families. I also love the community that has grown out of the Remarkably Average Parents Facebook group (if you are not already a part of that group, you should join!), where everyone is free to share their own stories in a non-judgmental space. I want the new account to feature other parents I follow, promote new blog contributors (book lists, advice from experts, etc.) and hopefully build on an already great community of open-minded forward thinking parents.
An account fully focused on all the remarkably average moms and dads trying their best to raise kickass humans who change the world. No small task, I know.
Don’t worry— the humor, the political snark and the healthy dose of girl power are all NOT GOING AWAY. Maybe @insta2yearold will even come back for a takeover every once in awhile. I’m currently trying to figure out what the new handle will be (you can leave your suggestions in the comments below), but in the meantime, I’ve already started posting my new vision over there to see what works. If you’d like to come along for the ride while I figure things out, follow me over on @insta2yearold!
What else happened last week?
We went on a whirlwind trip to an all-inclusive in Mexico, Mazzy started exploring her career options in coding, and I introduced you to Brandless, one of my new favorite brands, where you can buy dried mango, foot cream and steak knives all in one box. This is more fantastic than it sounds.
We also had Chrissy, our resident parenting coach, write about ways to foster healthy sibling relationships, shared Mazzy’s coolest cardboard creation ever and literally spread happiness through the streets of NYC. Also, if you haven’t seen what Melissa McCarthy and her husband wore to the Oscar after parties, I highly recommend. They are my new fashion heroes. Harlow’s new fashion hero is Kacey Musgraves.
Things I wanted to talk about but didn’t get to yet? Namely, the Momo challenge and all the crap that’s been happening with YouTube and YouTube Kids. We just banned YouTube in our house and hopefully, I will write about that next week. Allie and I are also going to start doing regular Instagram Lives to talk about all the interesting pop and internet culture topics that we end up talking about in the office. Currently, I’m watching YOU and Working Moms on Netflix, so just a forewarning, those might come up. Tune in on Tuesday!
Have a great weekend!
It would be fun to do more of those “picky eater club” post as well. I love the fact that it’s not sugar coated and it real in average family!
The Momo challenge is literally driving me crazy! GAH!