Venting....

I've found myself on the defensive lately.  I don't know if hormones, lack of sleep, stress, or a combination of these. I realize that social media is growing more & more a part of our every day lives. I just feel that sometimes we all need to take an extra minute or two before we hit that post button when we write a status or comment.  We all need time to engage our brains before we post something that we may unknowingly hurt or offend someone with.  Yes, I do believe in freedom of speech but I also know that if someone posts something that I don't want to read or don't like, I can ignore it or block it instead of making disparaging remarks for everyone to see.

What set me off at first may or may not have been aimed at me but at the time, I took it personal.  A friend had posted something as innocent as "gee, we know you have a baby but can't you save the pictures for special occassions".  It made me state the following:

Feel like I need to put in my two cents this morning & It may be because of lack of sleep from being in the e.r. last night with a sick baby but here goes. Yes, I post a lot of pictures of my baby that aren't just for "special occassions" as some would say. But to me, every moment of Bella's life is special to me. Especially since we lost her big brother/sister in 2009 at 4 months of pregnancy. We also almost lost Bella at the beginning of our pregnancy. So to me, every moment is a special occasion. If you don't want to see pictures of my baby or read about what's going on with her, then don't follow me, unfriend me, or block me because I don't care. Every moment of every Child's life should be cherished & should be special. Every one of my children's lives is to me.

That was just the beginning of my tirade for Facebook.  Next came when I saw a really good friend having to post on the defensive explaining why she was posting about celebrating the birthday of her son who passed away 2 years ago at the age of 1 year & 10 months.  I wanted to scream at the person who made her have to defend her posts.  

If people would just stop for a minute & try to put themselves outside of their own world & try to think about the other person, maybe, just maybe they wouldn't hurt someone.  I cannot begin to imagine the pain that my friend has been through with the loss of her son.  To have held him & watched him grow to lose him so young & unexpectedly.  I think she has more than every right in the world to throw a birthday party & share the experience with the world.  I applaud her for doing so.

I think that every child is precious whether it is born alive or not.  Those that have not suffered child loss, count yourself extremely blessed.  Sometimes, people don't even think about how parents that have suffered miscarriages are just as devastated as the ones that lose a child after birth.  When you are a parent, a true parent, any loss of a child that you love is devastating.  

I can't help but stop every once in a while to think what my baby would have been like had he/she lived.  That child would be almost 5.  I remember the milestones I experienced with Caitlin & Gabby.  I think of the ones that we are having now with Bella.  I miss all of those that we could have had with our angel baby.  

So, next time you start to write or comment on a post, please take a few minutes to really think about the person you are commenting on or writing about.  Everyone is going through something in their lives & it's not always sunshine & rainbows.