IG: SHAM_PAIN_MOMMY
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​Since a little over a decade ago when it became a viable career path, there has been much internet ink spilled on the world of the "mommy blogger" — parents who cultivate followings on the internet by posting stories, photos and videos of their children growing up.

For a more extreme example for the negatives of this sort of lifestyle/commodification of the human existence, look no further than bowerpowerblog, the mommy blogger moniker of Georgia mother of 5 Katie Bower. In a (now deleted from Instagram) celebration of her middle son Weston's birthday, she shared this photo to Instagram. Be sure to read the very long caption that goes with it:

 

Thankful for Weston today. My Weston was just the best baby….cuddly and easy…a hard toddler…always on the move and slow to talk which led to lots of crying….and one of the most helpful and sweet hearted little boys. He is quiet except when he's not….overflowing with unique personality. He hates the car and is a complete homebody. He loves art and sports and is quick with a joke. He loves organizing and quality time and says one day he is gonna be a daddy to one hundred babies 😂 And when he hugs and kisses you, you believe it. ❤️❤️❤️.
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Guys I am gonna be perfectly honest…Instagram never liked my Munchkin and it killed me inside. His photos never got as many likes. Never got comments. From a statistical point of view, he wasn't as popular with everyone out there. Maybe part of that was the pictures just never hit the algorithm right. Part might be because he was "the baby" for a very short amount of time before LJ came along…and then Max and then Ella. And people like babies. I say all that because I want to believe that it wasn't him…that it was on me. My insufficiency caused this statistical deficit because obviously my Munch should get ALL the love and squinty eyes are totally adorable. ☺️ so can we do this right? Because I truly KNOW that my Munch deserves alllllll the likes…whether or not a stranger gives it to them. And on his sixth birthday – I am thankful that I know that…that no matter what other people think of me or my kids or my marriage or my house or my life or my everything…that they are 1000000000x better in real life than any tiny little picture could hold.
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p.s. I wanted to clarify that I revealed this feeling because I know one day he will see the numbers and have to learn that his value is not in online approval. This is a hard lesson for anyone to learn and I'm thankful I have learned it. I hope you all can be understanding and not take things out of context or believe that this in any way affects how I see or treat my children. All comments and well wishes I read to the birthday boy!

I get it. I really do. For someone motivated by like and follow numbers, it must be upsetting to see one of your children consistently rake in worse engagement numbers than his siblings.

But also… keep these feelings between you, your therapist and your social media strategist. It's 2018 and this precious little boy just turned six years old. In my heart I hope that he can one day live a life where his value is not determined by fake numbers on the internet. Not by his peers, not by his employer and not by his parents. 

This isn't Bower's first brush with viral infamy — earlier this year, she revealed she didn't know that people died on September 11th:

 

[via Stephanie McNeal]

<p>Joey Cosco is Digg's Social and Branded Content Editor</p>

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