Social Media Has Made Me a Better Person

I've been wanting to take a couple minutes to write this post for several months, but seeing the "Take the Pledge" campaign by Elizabeth Flora Ross inspired me to finally do so. I  hear a lot about the "Mommy Wars" and the vicious ways that women attack each other online. I've seen it, and it makes me heartsick. In fact, I've been hearing stories of this from my IRL friends on discussion boards since before I knew the term, "Mommy Blogger." It's not necessarily a mommy problem, but there is something about parenting choices that seems to bring up some pretty strong reactions and (unfortunately) judgments in us. Add relative anonymity and it's been a recipe for disaster.

But I've found the anonymity has had the opposite effect on me. It's translated into me being nicer in real life, because I never know if the person who just pissed me off at the grocery store might be one of my online friends!

My experience of joining the online mom community has been awesome. Really — I'm in actual awe of the support, encouragement and humor. I've learned from you all, I've made friends that I can't wait to meet in real life, and my family is better for me having this connection and support. {despite the fact that they sometimes complain about me being on the computer again... balance is the key!}

Knowing I'm part of this bigger – often anonymous – community has given me a new kind of feeling connected to the world. Now, I'm very involved in my local community. I've lived here forEVER, I've been on boards, volunteered, I go to community events and frequent my local merchants. But this is different, because I'm interacting with people that I wouldn't necessarily meet on the street. I first noticed the change in me when some chick in an SUV cut me off on the freeway. My first reaction was to want to flip her off, but then a blog post I read flashed into my head. I thought, oh, maybe she's having a really  hard day and her kids are screaming and her checks are bouncing and the dog is sick etc etc. Instead of flipping her off, I took a breath and got over it. I wish I could do the same for my puppy who ate my shoes. I'm trying, but still not quite over that.
Please don't think I'm trying to portray myself as any kind of Pollyanna saint. I can snark with the best of them, and still do. But I've gotten so much from the online mom community, and I've seen the kind of loving support we can give each other, that it of course had to translate to my interactions in person.
I hope the "Take the Pledge" campaign works, because this is a really good thing we've got going here, and I for one don't want to see it mired in yuckiness. We're better than that!

giddy

I stopped at a consignment store to check into water sandals for the kiddles to take to Disney World, and just HAD to buy this little number for the Girl:

It's a Tinkerbell-inspired princess dress!
Now, she hasn't been in a princess mood for a while, just OBSESSED with dinosaurs. It's been a couple months since she's insisted on wearing princess clothes or a tiara, so I didn't know if she'd be in to it or not.
Oh, em gee. She took one look at it and stripped off her clothes to put it on. Once on, she had the hugest permagrin, and this deep gutteral laugh just took over her whole body. Seriously, shaking and jumping up and down. Then... screaming laughing running laps around the house. Laughing laughing laughing.
Next, she needed to put on princess shoes. Then, she insisted on making a mask. Mask? OK! I helped her make this:

When my parents arrived at the house for dinner, she ran up and said, "What do you think of my look? I'm the Queen of the Fairies!" {squeee, resume laps and laughter} I tried to get a picture of her, but she couldn't stop moving.
Is she a little excited? Just a tad. To be honest, every time I see the little countdown to the right, my heart skips a beat. I'm tempted to run laps and scream, too!
I'm so looking forward to not only this UH MAZ ING family time at Disney World, but also to meeting all these inspirational women. And I'm certain that the information I'll learn at the conference will be life-changing. I just know it.
So yes, I'm giddy. Yes, I've been informally packing for months. Yes, I'm religiously stalking the #disneysmmoms hashtag. Like the kids, I CAN'T WAIT.

It was random

Who got in to Disney Social Media Moms? I think it was random. I keep feeling like I need to justify my presence in the lucky few who got in. That's me, projecting. I've got to get over it.
Disney is putting on this event for "Social Media Moms." No definition of what that means. It doesn't mean you have to make money or get free stuff from your blog. It doesn't mean you need 10,000 followers.
This event is clearly not for A-list bloggers, it's just for "social media moms." I'm active on Facebook and Twitter (or as my boss says, "Tweeter"). I've recently started this blog. I tweet for my employer, and started the zoo in both before they even thought it was important. Also, guess what? I'm a mom. So there. I'm a social media mom.
I don't need anyone else to tell me that I don't have the klout score of so-and-so. Or the rankings or stats of anyone else. I know. I'm ok with that. We all have different goals and we all have to start somewhere.
As for who got in and who didn't?
I think it was random.
My registration confirmation email is time-stamped 11:10 a.m. PST. I'm sure I was one of the very first to get registered. But I've read the posts of many others who had the same or very close time stamp who did not get in, and many with much later time stamps who did. So I think Disney must have had a system failure, accepted too many registrations, somehow couldn't discern who's was submitted when, and were faced with what to do about it. I think they must have randomly chosen from those who had been allowed to submit a registration.
I wish they would issue some sort of statement so those of us who got in could stop feeling defensive about it and those of us who didn't get in could move on, content that it wasn't personal. Not that it would make things right — this was clearly a fail on several levels. But it would at least stop the speculation.
I'm a little bummed that my excitement is tempered by this pall hanging over the process. Not too bummed, mind you, I'm SO THRILLED to get this opportunity. I've been scouting around the blog conferences for about a year, trying to decide if it was worth the investment of time and money at this point. This conference is a perfect marriage of learning, networking, and family time. And an amazing price. So yeah, I'm glad I got in.
I just wish it had gone down a little differently.
Cheers and pixie dust.... • ·*°`º*· • . • ·*°`º*· • ·*°`º*· Swank

Disney Social Media Moms: still waiting...

The Orange Circle of Frustration is haunting me.
While I didn't have any trouble registering (I was in and out by 11:12 my time), the orange circle spinning while the page was loading was still nerve-racking.
For many, the orange circle syndrome lasted for more than an hour!

Well, even though I registered right away, I'm still waiting.... and waiting... for the confirmation.
Which I'm calling a validation/verification because I really have no idea how the decisions are made about who gets to attend.

I'm seeing a lot of tweets and posts of people getting denied access, but I still haven't gotten the follow up email from WDW.
So the orange circle is haunting me....

I was just at a playdate, and they had stickers on their wall that used to be a sun, but is now this:

I think the other mama thought I was pretty strange when I asked to take a picture of her Orange Circle of Frustration. Although I think she'll see it in a new light when she's sitting by her son's bed, waiting and waiting for him to go to sleep!

Disney Social Media Moms

Well, I just registered for the Disney Social Media Moms conference.
I've been wanting to attend a social media/blog conference for about a year, but since I'm not in to monetizing my blog, it's never seemed like the right investment (of money and time away from the family).
But this conference presents a unique opportunity. Not only is it fabulously priced, it welcomes the family!
So... I can learn more about social media (about which I am passionate and nerdy) AND have some fun with the family?
Count me in!

I hope I get to go, but there are a lot — and I mean A LOT — of people who want to go, and space is very limited. I go back and forth on wondering who should really be attending this conference. Sometimes I think it's me, sometimes I don't feel like I'm quite the target demographic yet. I don't have 10,000 followers on twitter or 5,000 Facebook friends... but really, do I want them? I have great relationships and I value them. So is more really better? Nah. Anyway, I'm grateful that I got my registration submitted.
If I get in, AWESOME. If not, it wasn't meant to be, and we'll go to Mexico instead... :)