You Do You And Move On.

Social media can be a double-edged sword sometimes. It's a great tool to market a business, connect with friends, match brands with bloggers or even spread awareness for a cause. It brings together like-minded communities in ways I will never be able to comprehend but at the same time, it is a malicious, judgement-driven mecca of individuals who, I can only imagine, like to judge that which they do not know, like or understand. 
Harsh? Perhaps, but if you're plugged in like I am, there's no doubt you've been witness to the judgment that's been flying over silly things like who's decorating for Christmas too early and not only who's decorating too early but who's carelessly and selfishly decorating with more than one Christmas tree! Or if you think that's crazy, try decorating one of those trees with a theme and you're just a bulls eye for the side eye. 
I'm sorry, say what? Apparently we've all taken a hiatus from judging mothers on their parenting tactics and now we're questioning (in a negative manner) their decorating choices.
Are you laughing yet? I am. It's one thing to have differing opinions. It's one thing to share them in an open-minded way, asking someone why they choose to do what they do. It's another thing to judge them because they just may be going above and beyond "the norm," or "the standard," whatever that is nowadays. 
Let's say I decide to have two Christmas trees this year. Let's take it one step further and pretend like I might even have one of them decorated completely in family ornaments and the other in some sort of "theme." 
Gasp!
Am I going to drag you by your ears into my home and make you sit and stare at my two trees? No way. Is it something that I grew up with? Absolutely not! We were always a one tree household and a family ornament tree at that! Personally? I would prefer to keep our family ornaments separate and as I mentioned earlier, will plan to put them on a separate tree when that time comes. Does this mean that I think you suck for putting all of your ornaments  on the same tree? Of course not! 
I'm sure you're tree is just as beautiful. This year, we aren't even putting ornaments on our tree(s) that have yet to be procured so stick that in your pipe and suck on it. I'd rather go ornament-less than have to constantly be on the defensive with a ball-obsessed 18 month old.
You want to have seven trees in your house? Go on with your bad Christmas self, I say. 
Just because you don't understand something or don't agree with something doesn't mean you need to make others feel poorly about themselves or their decisions to do it differently.
Now that Elf on the Shelf Season is upon us, The fur will surely fly on Pinterest and Social Media as mothers (and fathers!) all over the world are judged for creatively playing "Elf" each night for their kids. I'm tempted to pop some popcorn and watch the snivelry and snickering unfold. (Snivelry isn't even a real word but you can imagine what it would mean).  
But let's face it, I won't really have time for that because I'll be scouring Pinterest at the very last minute for ideas to move that damn elf around our house. 
All for the sake of (happily) making personal family traditions. 
Let's move onto, say, dressing up for Pre-School Drop Off. Prior to having a school-aged child, I didn't even know this was a Thing. Meaning, I wouldn't have given a second thought to dressing up (or down) to go drop off or pick my child up from school. That said, two mornings a week, I actually change out of my typical "comfy" uniform of black yoga pants, put a little elbow grease into applying mediocre make up and drop my kid off at school.

Is this small act done purposefully to make those who choose not to do this feel poorly about themselves? Not even in the slightest. To be honest, it's done to make me feel better about myself and my appearance. Not to sound selfish, but I haven't even given you, the Non-Dresser-Upper, nor anything else, a second thought. Especially at 7:00 in the morning. 
Does dressing up one or two mornings a week mean that I have my shit together or that I'm a better parent than someone else? Hell no! Half the time I come home from Pre-School pick up and immediately change back into that comfy uniform I described earlier. Does that make me a sham? I hope not, considering it's not exactly convenient to be crawling all over the floor with your kids playing trains in a dress and tights. But for that two hours in the morning when I was dressed up and my husband saw me leave the house in make up and "real clothes?" I felt mighty good. 
Some weeks? Dressing up doesn't even happen because it takes all the effort and energy I can muster to make sure my kid is fed and dressed appropriately for school. And by dressed I mean wearing underwear, socks and whatever clothing attire is appropriate for the season. Shorts in late November? Sorry, kid. I'm the Mom and I win this one.
Just because you don't understand something, don't agree with something or choose to do it differently, doesn't mean you need to make others feel poorly about themselves or their decisions to do it differently than you. 
Isn't that was makes this world exciting? The fact that we don't all walk around like drones, veritable carbon copies of our neighbors? 
Good god, that would bore me to death. You do you and move on.