Have you seen the most recent parent blog to go viral? It’s “The Reasons My Son Is Crying.” I first ran across it on Facebook, where someone had posted a link to the Tumblr blog, posted by the boy's father, Greg Pembroke.
After reviewing his blog, I found myself wondering why this had trended. I’m never a fan of parents capitalizing on their children’s misery — and this 1-year-old looks really miserable at times. While Pembroke's one-liners describing what makes his child unhappy (below: "He is bad at eating yogurt.") are funny, they also border on being detached. Oh wait, he's a comedian.
“I think every parent experiences meltdown and I was trying to have a little fun with it,” Pembroke tells TODAY Moms.Of course, if he's snarky enough to take the pictures, then he might be part of the problem.
On the other hand, his photos remind me of how gauzy our view of childhood can be. We tend to blot out the whining and meltdowns, choosing not to chronicle those less than Kodak moments. Yet consider the world of the toddler. You are not the master of your universe. Beyond crying, you cannot tell folks what you need or want. You don't understand why your parents are such dolts. The world can suck.
I noticed that many reposting these pictures were 20-somethings, young adults who can perhaps identify. You leave college thinking the world is your oyster, only to discover that others continue to run the show — it’s just no longer your parents.
Or maybe it's that this baby’s unhappiness taps into that grey cloud we all find lurking in our psyche, the one that always manages to rain on our parade.
Finally, if looking at bummed out toddlers isn't your cup of tea, try "Reasons My Toddler Is Smiling" instead.
It’s sweet, but I don’t think it will be nearly the hit.