Paging Dr. Mom

One of the primary reasons I have for tapping into the social media world, which I see as possibly its most beneficial function, is seeking out advice from other moms. It is as true as it ever was, I believe, that it takes a village to raise a child, although that village may span the globe rather than consisting of the multi-generational households immediately closest to me. Many if not most of us in modern America live far from the villages and families of our youth. Our own mothers are not a few huts away when we need guidance. And so we turn to technology to serve needs unmet by proximity.

In this season of the epic flu, my 15-month-old has been sick for several weeks. She's got the typical cough, cold, and intermittent low-grade fever, but presumably due to all the mucus (holy phlegmoly, so much mucus), she's also been throwing up on a disturbingly regular basis. Which is the most fun.

The pukes began very unexpectedly and publicly - at church, in the midst of an adult Sunday school class (oddly and grossly enough, that makes my kids two for two in pulling that trick in the exact same circumstances). As social etiquette would dictate, I posted an apology on Facebook for everyone who witnessed the unfortunate event. It garnered 20 comments, which is way more than even my most witty thoughts typically elicit. Turns out, everyone has a puke story.

Thus began a week of hemming and hawing about taking her to the doctor before the sheer volume of vomit forced me to make the call. Our doctor's office does not "do" walk-in appointments or sick-kid hours and my insurance doesn't cover urgent care other than the ER (my total and utter dissatisfaction with that whole situation is a post for another time… maybe. Probably not.) And so we were squeezed in to see what I thought was going to be a pediatrician, but turned out to be a physician's assistant who gave us some nasal saline drops and a bulb syringe and bid us good day. Time well spent.

So where can we go when the experts leave us hanging - or our kids aren't quite sick enough to warrant a doctor's visit, or we're struggling with making that judgment call? Where else? To the village! Yes, Google and WebMD are all well and good for many questions, especially when it's a matter of self-diagnosis, but when it's my children's health I really seek comfort from the voices of people I know, whose parenting instincts have proven sound. Maybe I can't remember how high or long-lasting a fever needs to be before really worrying. Or I don't know what to look for as symptoms of an ear infection. Or I can't manage to get a doctor's opinion or prescription to try children's Mucinex, but if I can find a critical mass of support online, it's going to balance out the warnings on the label that I not give it to my child under 4. Maybe I've been up every hour for a couple nights straight and all I really need is a little commiseration.

Does this render our kids' pediatricians irrelevant? The answer's not yes, but it's not necessarily no. Having access to reassurances, words of warning, and several experience-informed opinions at the very least gives the mother of a sick child more resources than she might have while waiting for daylight in an overbooked doctor's schedule. I certainly hope we're all wise enough to recognize a true emergency, and not waste time scrolling through mommy message boards when we need to be dialing 911. (Side note: The American Red Cross and American Heart Association have great, simple mobile apps available for helping, heaven forbid, should we need to respond to those types of situations. My dad put me on to those. Go Dad!) But for all of the many ailments of lesser urgency, turning to our peers online gives us not only the near-guarantee of a quick reply, but also an added dose of perspective from those who have been there, whose response to routine illness is likely less clouded by emotions and sleep deprivation than our own.

It's just one way in which the community of moms empowers each other. We may not be as readily available to one another, in terms of physical presence, as prior generations. But our village is still intact. And during a trying flu season, it's been the only remedy that never fails to make me feel better.  

iPad Learn-to-Read Apps?

I've become increasingly disappointed in the learn-to-read/reading apps on the iPad. Maybe I'm just searching incorrectly. Maybe I'm not understanding what a reading app is really all about. Whatever the case, I feel like this is a great opportunity for greatness -- "the world's greatest learn-to-read app!" Takers?

I've had a lot of moms recommend the LeapFrog or vTech reading devices. I checked them out. They are a pretty penny for what they really are...not to mention all of the "books" you then buy. It makes me even more determined to find a whole bunch of fantastic reading apps on the iPad. No matter how long it takes!

If you have any suggestions on favorite reading apps, please, please, please head over to https://www.facebook.com/SociallyMediaMoms and share them with us. Or, if you happen to swear by one of these other eReaders for kids, share that, too. I'm new to the kindergarten world, so fire away! (And while you are there, feel free to like our page, as well!)

Thank you!

Hi, everyone!

I'm excited to be joining Katie on this blog with a post from time to time. I'm also a mom to two kids, a boy and a girl. I currently "stay home" with them, although it often feels like we spend too much time anywhere but home. In addition to momming, I volunteer with a group of military wives, instruct group fitness classes to fellow mamas with their littles in tow, teach Sunday school, sometimes run marathons, and, in my free time, read, play with our beagle, try to convince myself I'm crafty, bake (or at least drool over recipes), and write out my thoughts on life. I look forward to venturing further into the world of social media through this forum, and hope it might be possible to help myself and others become better in whatever ways are important to us through the potential for connectedness in modern parenthood.

I must confess, though, that I am admittedly somewhat of a novice and even more of a skeptic where the "biggies" of social media are concerned. I guess I'm a little bit old school. I just got my first smartphone in a well-timed Black Friday sale. Some might definitely would say I'm an organization freak, but I still prefer paper calendars, day planners, notepads and books. And I'm wary of putting personal information out there in internet-land when I don't fully comprehend how it might be used or who might have access to it.

I've even tried to quit. I pulled the proverbial plug. Shortly before my daughter was born, I went through an introspective nesting phase in which I felt an intense need for privacy and quiet in my life. I wanted to be very selective about how and with whom my husband and I shared the most special events of our personal lives, rather than broadcasting our news for all to see. I craved real human interaction, but anything less than that just felt cheap. And so when Facebook changed its format again (back when everyone was "getting timelined"), it served as the catalyst for me, in a self-righteous huff, to deactivate my account. (As if Facebook cared.)

And thus began the dark months. 

I anxiously waited out the last few weeks of my pregnancy, plus an extra-special eight days overdue. Shortly thereafter, it quickly became apparent that I had a(nother) difficult newborn, coupled with a sweet but demanding toddler. My babies take longer than some to sleep or eat very well, which is draining on me, to put it mildly. For several weeks I stayed in a rough place emotionally, and felt sequestered in an unfamiliar place physically - we'd moved 3000 miles from our families and closest friends when I was seven months pregnant. And now I was in inadvertently self-imposed social exile because I was the holdout with no Facebook account.

It took a few months to realize just how much I was missing by trying to maintain a shaky grasp on solitude that just doesn't exist in our world the way it once did. I wasn't making an anti-social media statement so much as just being antisocial, and once the hormones subsided, I was able to see clearly that it wasn't how I wanted to live my life. 

When I came to not only understand but value the role that Facebook and other social media platforms play in our lives, I realized that it was completely within my control to use it to my own benefit, that I could make this a life-enriching tool rather than being the tool.

I reactivated my account quietly - no "I'm back, baby!" status updates or rapid-fire wall posts, but with a wholesale pruning of my friend list. I started to follow pages for all the things I'd been missing out on. I found out where to look for playgroups near me, when my postnatal fitness class was rained out, which of the other families in my husband's unit were slated to move to the same post we were heading to next - none of which I would have known otherwise. And slowly, as I became more comfortable with the mom-of-two juggling act, my real life followed suit and we became more engaged in a world from which we'd detached for brief period of time. Though it sounds like it, it's not an exaggeration to say that allowing myself to rejoin the social media world had a dramatic impact on my overall well-being. I felt more connected, more in tune with my own interests and goals. I was inspired, I was involved, I was generally making progress in my life.

…And then I joined Pinterest.

It has been awhile...

Happy New Year! So, I have been slacking off on the blog, yes, I know. But I am happy to say I am excited about a new year! I won't lie and say this is some sort of new year, new me thing. I don't do resolutions. I always try to be a good mom, wife, sister, daughter (my kids are still giving me headaches and causing me to pull my hair out, so I think I'm continuing the good mom part!).

No, this is an exciting time because the lovely Ms. Rebecca has agreed to do some guest posts on the blog! For those of you who know the lovely Ms. Rebecca, you will understand why I am so excited. She is a phenomenal writer and she brings such an awesome perspective to everything. She is a mom of two, like me --  a son and a daughter. She knows her way around social media. And she is just plain awesome. And awesomely nice. (Secretly, my plan is to convince her to make such frequent guest posts that she becomes a regular! But shhhh!)

In the time that I have been silent, we launched a new website, stepped up our social media presence, launched an app and began work on some new blogs (yet to be launched). So, we've been a bit busy. But the newness of each is actually exciting to me. As I have said before, there usually isn't anything too exciting about using social media for a law firm. Zzzzzzzzz. But I am excited that we are now open to new stories, new sharings and basically a whole new way of looking at this apparent new way of doing things.

So, yes! The new year has a lot to offer. Stay tuned! Check back often! Share with your friends! Read on!

Red Cup Happiness

Before I even start this post, I feel I need to show some love to my Caribou...Caribou Coffee. I love Caribou. It is my main coffee love. But alas, here in Texas, we do not have any Caribou Coffee shops. So, my coffee world pretty much revolves around Starbuck's. However, even if we did have a Caribou close by, this time of the year, I only have eyes for the red cups!

I see the red cups out and about town now, and I get that instant holiday glow. I love November and December -- undoubtedly my most favorite time of the year. And, really, we all really know why red cups make people happy. Starbuck's, like one of my other dear favorite companies, Disney, just flat out knows what they are doing.

Red cups somehow make me forget that I am paying $5.00 for a latte. Red cups erase the "corporateness" of companies and the fact that, in retail, the holiday season starts in early October these days. Red cups make me happy. They just make me happy. For those cherished moments every morning when I drink my coffee at my desk, before the craziness of the day sets in. For the happy thoughts they bring to mind -- happy thoughts about family, the holidays and everything for which I am thankful. For the warmth I feel when I drink those yummy holiday flavors. For the glimmer and sparkle in my kids' eyes when we get them a hot chocolate, in a red cup. They just make me happy.

As the red cup revolution grew, Starbuck's, like most savvy companies and social media users, jumped all over building a community around their famous beverage holders. The Starbuck's Holiday Village® does not "officially open" until November 13, but, shed no tears! You can provide this savvy social media company with your email address, and they will notify you when the village is open and ready for visitors. What better way to engage their customers?? Combine their red cups with a fun, festive, holiday website (which they will promote the crap out of on their Facebook page, via Twitter, etc.). 

For all those out there who find reasons to complain during the holidays (about Target bringing out holiday items before Halloween, about the hassles of the season and about whatever else), might I suggest holding a red cup, even for a moment? And remember, we have the power within ourselves to control what the holidays mean to us. For me, the red cups trigger all the joy of the holiday season. It is a choice I make -- to not let any external factors have influence on what the season means to me and to my family.

Happy red cupping, everyone!

Typos, people, typos

We all know social now plays a huge and important role in an organization's overall marketing these days. We all know the benefits to creating that online, social community around your product, brand and/or organization. This post is not at all about that. Rather, this post is about all of those posts. A rant - my two minutes on the soapbox. Here goes.

We, as social media specialists, have, in my mind, a responsibility to our communities to use proper grammar and spelling. Nothing irks me more than to see typos (intentional or unintentional) on an organization's social post. An unintentional typo means you did not take the time to proof your post before making it live. That is just lazy. An intentional typo means that you are giving into this whole idea of a "new" "texting" language. Please. Please, please, please, please, please. Nowhere, ever, is ur acceptable. It is not acceptable from a teenager. It is not acceptable from an adult. And it is certainly not acceptable from an organization. The other big (huge, really) pet peeve of mine is the non-use of apostrophes. Dont is NOT a word. Stick an apostrophe in there, for crying out loud!

Recently, I encountered two Facebook posts by companies I respect, containing ridiculous typos. The first caused annoyance, because I did not notice the typo in the URL until after I clicked on the link and was taken to a "Page Not Found." Clearly, this company's social media person had manually typed the URL (first mistake -- cut and paste, my dear. EVERYONE knows that!), and then did not take the time to review the post before publishing. To make it even worse, the typo in the URL was within the company's name. Really? Really??

The second one I came across was a common, simple mistake that we have all made one or more times: hte. Yes, reversing the h and the t in the word "the" -- most likely it happened because the individual was typing quite quickly (this happens to me all the time). I can understand this typo, most definitely. I cannot, however, accept it. Again, proof your posts before you publish them!!

My rant is over. Please resume your normally scheduled day.

(Note: I proofed this particular post close to 100 times before I published it! J) 

Best. Job. Ever.

I am a Disney fanatic. I was as a young girl. I was as a teen. And as a young adult. I am today. But the best part of my Disney addiction today is that I get to see it through the eyes of my children. Which, and Disney sure knows this all too well, somehow makes it more magical. I like the characters. I like the movies. I love the parks. I am ecstatic on the cruise. My favorite, though, are the princesses. Maybe because I'm a gal. Maybe because I have a young daughter who is "waaaay into the princesses, mom." Perhaps it is because, as a mom, we all sort of feel like Cinderella every now and then (as my dear friend reminded me just this past weekend). Or maybe because I am a hopeless romantic and flat out just love love. Whatever the reason, you can imagine this social media specialist's excitement when I tumbled deeper and deeper into the Facebook world of Disney and peeled the many, many, many layers back to reveal that EVERY princess has her own Facebook page. GET OUT! Sign me up for that gig, NOW!

Let's break this down. Some lucky Disney employee out there gets to be a princess every day. Live the life of a princess through the fabulous (and, as Disney now makes it, magical) world that is Facebook. While this social media manager Facebooks all day about the legal industry. Or send out tweets about our wonderful achievements. Wow. The comparison is just too freaking sad for me to contemplate any longer. So, for the time being, I will just "like" all of the princesses' Facebook pages and continue to live magically through them (and that lucky, lucky dog who gets to be them every stinking day!).

Check them out! Tell me this wouldn't be the ultimate job! (well, if you are a crazed social media person like I am!)

Ariel (my red-head's favorite princess): https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleMermaidAriel

Cinderella: https://www.facebook.com/Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty: https://www.facebook.com/DisneySleepingBeauty and Princess Aurora: https://www.facebook.com/SleepingBeautyPrincessAurora

Tiana: https://www.facebook.com/PATFPrincessTiana

Belle: https://www.facebook.com/BeautyandtheBeastBelle

Rapunzel: https://www.facebook.com/TangledRapunzel

Jasmine: https://www.facebook.com/AladdinPrincessJasmine

Snow White: https://www.facebook.com/DisneySnowWhite

There are more... the list goes on and on! But to make it easy on us, there is one page for them all! https://www.facebook.com/DisneyPrincess

So, when you are feeling more like the Cinderella before the ball, visit any of these pages to be magically transformed into a princess!