The reality of the highlights reel

As I looked over Facebook posts one day, I jokingly asked, "Do you ever actually work?" But, I knew the answer. We all know the answer. What we see on Facebook and other social media sites are just "the highlights reel."

I wrote previously about what you don't see. You don't see the battles behind some of the most fun social media posts. But, they are there. Trust me. You may have seen the pictures, but do you really know the stories?

This hike was almost over before it really started. Two lizards startled
us. Miss Hollywood wanted to turn around and go back to the visitor's
center. We finally did the hike, but it took some convincing.

Do you know that in the midst of a great adventure in Point Reyes, I lost my son for two minutes? Yep, that's right. He told to stay close and to wait on going into the shop. You may have read about our hike and our #eduawesome #adventure but I looked frantically all over for my ten-year-old before finding him admiring the stuffed animals in the gift shop. He had wandered off to look for something that interested him. I found him. No, he did not get the stuffed coyote that fascinated him. Yes, he did get something from the shop that day. I was relieved and my decision to purchase a souvenir from a National Park is rarely tied directly to behavior. We had a great hike, learned about the San Andreas Fault, discovered interesting rocks and seashells. It was a great day. Yet, I had threatened to pack up the car and go home earlier that morning due to a separate behavioral issue with Miss Hollywood.

My children love Food Network shows They especially liked Chopped. I choked down a sauce the other night. Why? Because my daughter made it as part of a challenge. There are no pictures of this one on Facebook, though I did photograph it. A couple of nights later, I did post a picture of my very colorful plate showing off a dinner we planned together and I cooked, plated, and served. In fairness, the dinner Miss Hollywood made the other night was good despite the odd sauces. At least one of them turned out better than I expected, too.

We only see the highlight reels on social media.

Military people are still working hard even when it looks as if they get to play all the time. Educators are constantly learning while traveling places near and far for learning opportunities. Sometimes, they get to do cool things on their work and learning adventures. Still, they work, they learn.

I remember a couple of years ago, I saw where the highlights reel manner of thinking went beyond social media. I had traveled to meet with educators in another state. I did classroom observations at several school, both public and private. I worked for several months to set up the trip. I planned it carefully and cost-efficiently. I paid my own way fr the entire thing and the only thing I asked for was four days away from my school site to make the trip. I read education books while flying to and from. I gathered interesting items to bring back to the school. I even posted and followed up on assignments remotely thanks to Google Classroom. When I returned, one of the teachers said, "Hey! Welcome back! How was your vacation?" I replied calmly, "It was not a vacation" and otherwise bit my tongue.

Just before I took this picture, Miss Hollywood and I argued
over who would carry it to the table. But it sure looks relaxing.

We all experience the "what you don't see" and we all share our highlight reels. Be mindful of this as you scroll through your Facebook feed, your Twitter feed, and SnapChat posts. So, what do we do? Likely, we keep with the status quo. That's ok. We want to see the smiling faces, the happy adventures, the photographic dinner plate. Today, though, I think I'll share something different. I think I'll post the picture of Miss Hollywood's dinner. It looked less pretty in a picture, but it tasted good. In the meantime, be patient with folks, listen carefully to what they are really saying, and when you see your friends in real like, remember to give them hugs. Trust me. You never know when they could use it most.