Surviving a break from Facebook?

Facebook...who would have thought that a silly "social media" site could be so darn addictive? When I first signed up, I thought "now this is kind of ridiculous--why in the world would I care what all these people--who, lets face it--I barely know or knew 20+ years ago-- are doing every minute of every day". And yet, I, like millions of other people, find myself signing on numerous times a day to just "check in". I mean, it has just become imperative that I see what everyone is having for dinner tonight. Or that I can congratulate and give a virtual high five to a high school acquaintance whose kid scored 3 soccer goals. And lets face it, who can resist looking at all those adorable kid pictures and even better, the puppy dog pictures! I'm being somewhat facetious but I really DO love looking at everyone's pictures. I am nosy by nature and love to see the cute babies, the newly remodeled house and the awesome Hawaiian vacation pictures.

BUT, like many before me have complained, it is starting to take away time from the family. And I know other people are facing the same issues. One of Nicholas' friends told me the other day that he couldn't go onto their school's 'First in Math' website in the evenings b/c his Mommy was ALWAYS on Facebook and wouldn't let him on the computer--even though his teacher had TOLD them they have to do the math work." After I laughed my butt off and then called my friend (the child's mom) to tell her what he had announced to the whole class, I realized that the kids probably DO see it like this. And just for the record, my friend is an awesome Mom and I know for a fact that she is not always on FB. As a matter of fact, I rarely see that she's on (b/c believe me, I'm on A LOT)!

Several of my friends have decided to "take a break" from FB. I've thought about how liberating that would be. I've tried "cutting back" but it just doesn't work. It's gotten so bad that I find myself thinking in FB status quotes. I literally will have a thought and think hey, that would be a good status. Or I think about what I'm doing in third person. Example, "Carrie is about to get on the treadmill and is so dreading it. Ugghhh." I have actually said "Uggghh" in my head. That's bad. And somewhat pathetic. But when it comes to actually hitting the "deactivate account" button, I feel somewhat nauseous. Again, the word pathetic comes to mind. So, I will have to give it a little more thought before I do anything so final.

So friends, if you see that you have one less friend in the near future, know that it's not because I don't love ya, but I've decided to grow up and have some balls. Ok, slightly dramatic--but you catch my drift. Let's see if that happens!