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I definitely don't post photos of a messy house. I also make sure my house is clean before I have house guests, so it's the same concept. I also don't get jealous of other people because of social media, but that just isn't my personality type...

I'm more likely to be slightly envious of things I notice IRL--like the mom friend I have who has the $$ to work out with a personal trainer 3X a week and who has a nanny. I wish that were me! But I don't begrudge her for having them at all. I would have the same if I could!

I was sooo like this when I was planning my wedding. And it was pre-Pinterest era!

If I'm taking a pic, I try to make sure there's not a discarded bra in the background or a bunch of dirty dishes visible. But I don't have time to clean for the sake of photos, haha!

I feel like this is a newer challange of our generation. I deleted my fb account for various reasons last year, that was really good for me. What's shared online can be curated and unauthentic. I don't often get jealous, but I think it comes down to the fact that every day I would choose my life with its benefits and struggles. The advice I would give your friend is that she probably makes other people jealous. If she has kids, those who struggle with infertility, if she is employed- someone who is seeking work, if she is married- someone who wishes they had a partner, if she owns her home- someone who will never be able to afford a down payment . It goes both ways, and it can be poisonous. Good luck and kudos for being such a good friend.

No, because I generally feel that many things are accessible to me but I am not willing to put in the effort. If I had a different personality, I would be on a different career track and would make more money. But I would hate that job, and I'm comfortable with the amount of money I make. If I didn't want to relax in the evening after the baby goes to sleep, then I would have a nicer looking, neater house. If I spent less time with the baby, then I would be in better shape. Etc. etc. Everything has tradeoffs.

So, jealous, no, but I did have to stop reading blogs, because I didn't have the time or resources to achieve some of the decor that people were posting about. Once I did that, I was much more satisfied with the state of my home.

I am not on instagram, I don't feel like I am missing anything.

I get jealous, but not about things like a clean house! I'm jealous when my SIL can take her kids to the beach during the middle of the week and I'm stuck at work and Xander's at daycare! Or I get jealous of the girl who JUST had a baby and is already back in her pre-pregnancy clothes and looking fabulous! But the other stuff doesn't bother me.

I don't clean up before I take pictures. Most of the pictures of Xander, you can just see toys or boxes or random crap lying on the floor (or piled up on the dining table) behind him.

I think it is inevitable to feel some kind of jealousy at some point. When dealing with IF it was really hard seeing pregnancy announcements, baby bump photo's and the billion pics people post a day of their kids. It was never about them having a nicer house, better vacations, just things I was struggling with.

I guess you have to remember though that behind every perfectly cropped picture and filter there are every day problems everyone is going through that no one knows about.

I get a little envious at @lamariniere:'s travel on Instragram!

But for the most part I don't really get jealous of other parents. What do people get jealous of? Other people's homes? The behavior of other kids? Other's people's lives always look perfect in pictures, and even the bad moments are usually only posted for a laugh (like crying santa pics). I assume you're not getting the full story of other people's lives, just like I don't put my entire life online either.

But I'm really happy with a lot of things in my life. It took me a really long time to get here and get through some struggles and I'm really appreciative of where I am now.

Nah no jealousy, I realize that I am very fortunate and blessed. And most people do only show the good days on social media so I take everything with a grain of salt. I've gotten a lot of good ideas from my mom friends on IG so I like that form of social media.

I think people generally try to show their best selves online so I don't really get jealous. I do the same! As someone mentioned, its like cleaning your home before you have guests.

I have gotten jealous over real life things though. Mostly about having time to travel and a supportive family.

while i'm not on facebook/twitter/instagram, but i absolutely do get jealous of moms on certain blogs. this insecurity is part of the reason i'm not on social media.

@Anagram: interesting question. On some forms of social media, yes, like FB. I try really hard to not post much on FB, because I know that work connections can see it, as well as lots of other people. It's not so much that I'm hiding what I'm doing, but there's just no point in me posting much. Any support I would get on there would come from a small handful of people who probably already know already. I gave up FB for Lent 2 years ago because it was turning me into a green-eyed monster. I've since gone back, but only rarely. I don't much miss it.

But IG is a different story to me. I'm OK with posting there because the only people on it are my family and HB. I don't even have IRL friends on IG. Instead, it is my way to share what my baby is doing with our families, who are exclusively out of town and only get to see LO once a month, if that. I added HB's because I really like seeing their babies, but that's it. My intention is not to show off there, but rather, to show real life, because that's what I want to share with my family.

@Danizaur: I'm glad you posted here, because I've been wanting to tell you that I am really sorry if anything I post has made you upset. I know that G is a crazy all over the place baby, but I promise, I would never share those things to brag in a mean way. I post so her crazy aunts and uncles can see what she's up to. I can't wait to see pictures of T tearing up the house.

I think I'm doing social media wrong. I post pictures of messes all the time. Sometimes they are just pictures of messes with no LO. LO looked like a hobo in the last picture I posted.

I don't get jealous of people based on their online self-branding. If I cared to I could create some luxurious looking online life but it would probably cost me my real friends.

I stopped going on facebook not because I was jealous but because people would have life events and not tell me! Just do a facebook blast. Type of things that deserved an e-mail at the very least. I was like forget it... If they wanted me to know... they would tell me.

On the other hand I do xmas cards and I usually try to get the card that let's me share the most photos or work in a way to post more photos in one slot. Haha. I have one at my desk at work usually and one of my co-worker came by and looked at it... she commented... wow your LO seems happy all the time and you look like you do a lot of stuff with him. I laughed and said well I'm not going to put sad pictures of LO! We don't do that much but there are only a few pictures here... even if we just one thing every other month it would fill this xmas cards. So I guess that's the same thing as having a facebook that only shows the good. *shrugs*

Yes, I get jealous when people post things about how much they're enjoying motherhood or, even worse, mat leave. But its not just online - my work colleague came in today with her 7 week old (she's on a 1 yr mat leave) and she was telling me that she is loving every minute. It got even worse when she shrugged off my "you look great!" comment, attributing it to breastfeeding and, uh, the weight is falling off her. For some people I guess it really is all wonderful and magical and amazing and their boobs work! Having had a really tough (PPD) first year of motherhood, I console myself by saying that everyone struggles, that most people find it hard and, really, everyone's just pretending they enjoyed the newborn days. It stings when something suggests otherwise.

Its fleeting though, honestly! I love being a toddler mummy so its all good.

Nope! I just realize social media is everyone's personal PR campaign, and it's never the whole story. And even if it were? I love my messy, beautiful life the way it is, struggles and blessings alike, and don't want anyone else's.

@ShootingStar: @Pirouette: bawahahaha, I was thinking the same thing as you guys - I totally get jelly of @lamariniere:'s travel pics on IG!

When LO was a (hard) newborn I used to get a little bitchy towards a cousin of mine with a LO about 3 months older because on FB her posts were all about how her LO started STTN at 1 week old, and never cried and never fussed and everything was so easy and so wonderful. Then she started private messaging me with encouragement if/when I did post help type questions on FB. I never called her out, but was laughing to myself that her kid is an angel on her public posts on FB, and much more normal when you sit and talk 1:1. Taking things with a grain of salt reigns in the green-headed monster.

@LovelyPlum: Absolutely not!!! I wish T could be up and doing the same things too, but I still love seeing all the HB babies doing their thing. It's so sweet of you to think of me! But post away! I love the pictures.

I've definitely felt a little inadequate when seeing pictures (usually from popular "mommy bloggers" or IGers) that appear to show an ideal life. It's easy to see a nice picture and assume their home is always clean, their kids are always smiling, etc. When it gets to me, I step away from the electronics and focus on my own life. I also remind myself of times when I've had guests over who have complimented my place and have no clue about the marathon cleaning session that ended 5 minutes before they arrived, or the mess that I cropped out of a photo before posting.