157. This Week on the Internet Loses Its Mind: Ballerina Farms & Twerking Fourth Graders

Well, it's been another week of the internet going crazy. But so many friends and followers sent me two of the same posts this week and I felt called to share my thoughts on them because to me they are incredibly related: 1. Hannah of Ballerina Farms is competing in the Mrs. World Pageant and the internet has decided she is dangerous and setting a bad example (oooooookay…) 2. The teacher calling for parents to take phones away from kids and stop letting phones raise their children because 4th graders are bullying, body shaming, and twerking on the playground.   What Do I Think the REAL Issues Are? We have some thinking to do as parents. We can do better as moms (& no, that's not shaming) The need for more self-awareness Parenting our own children The real danger: peer-oriented culture Mom shaming Toxic postpartum messaging Bullying (by grown-ups and kids) Who are the bullies? Cattiness & Meanness The over-sexualization of everything Ease and convenience over depth and meaning Healthy boundaries with internet use Parents need to ask themselves Allowing sensationalism to trump the real lessons As moms, we need to strive to do better by our kids The call to strive   “Am I smiling and laughing at strangers entertaining me on my phone more than I’m looking at my kids and smiling and laughing because they are bringing me joy in my every day?” -Lori Beth Auldridge   No ad spots today because I wanted to get right to the message. But check out all our sponsors at www.elevatingmotherhood.com