Confessions of a Pinterest-Hating Mom

As a mom and as an online marketer, I know that I am supposed to love Pinterest. I’m supposed to see it as a way to get inspired to be more creative and a way to build my business through the power of visuals. It’s a way to connect and share ideas and curate content and…

blah…blah…blah.

I know all of those things are true, but I still can’t get past my Pinterest problems. Here are my top five reasons that I just can’t love (and maybe even hate) Pinterest:

1. I don’t have a crafty bone in my body. It’s not that I am not CREATIVE, because I can be very creative in other ways. When it comes to crafts, I can manage to screw up a paint by number kit. So all those cute crafts on Pinterest? They just make me feel inferior. I don’t need anything anyone else making me feel inferior. That’s a built-in perk of being a middle-aged woman.

2. I’m perpetually dieting. Pretty much all of my adult life has been spent on a diet. I have to save my splurge calories for essentials like margaritas and wine tasting. Yes, I know there are TERRIFIC “skinny” recipes on Pinterest and “The only 12 exercises you need to get in shape” but for every 1 of those it seems like there are 100 chocolate-laden pictures that make my stomach growl and my mouth water as soon as I see them. (“Triple Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo?” Come on!!!) I have to resist the temptation!

3. So many social networks! If it’s not enough that I have to make sure to check Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Slack, Google Plus, and all of my email accounts, I have to remember to open Pinterest and try and be social there as well. I just don’t have the energy anymore to be interesting in another place. Half the time I’m not even all that interesting everywhere else. If I happen to think of something that is uniquely “Pinteresting” (I thought I made that up but apparently Urban Dictionary got to it first), I will try to remember to go Pin it for you.

4. Cute kid stuff. I miss having babies. I’ll just put that out there. I miss matching outfits on my toddlers and princess tiaras in Disney World. I’m living in a different world now…a world of teenagers. There aren’t a lot of pins of “10 fun things to do for your sullen teenager’s birthday party” or “5 different ways your teen can wear the same pair of black leggings every damn day.”

5. There’s not enough time in my day. More than ever before in my life, time is short. I’m balancing running a business with running on a treadmill with running my kids to every practice and performance and party they need to be at. Pinterest sucks my time in 2 ways–1) Taking me down an endless rabbit hole of more and more things I want to read and pin and share, and 2) Convincing me I have time to do things like “Make money selling toilet paper rolls on ebay” and “31 ways to seriously deep clean your home.” (those are real posts) I can’t even click on those articles because if I even THOUGHT about trying to find the time in the day day to them, I would have to start paying someone to parent my kids. Maybe someday in my future I can spend my days reading all of the awesome advice my friends are pinning and actually trying it. That day will not be until at least June 2021.

So maybe “hate” is a strong word for how I feel about Pinterest. I see its value. I actually like it in so many ways that I have to hate it to not get pulled into it. And I am happy for everyone else that is out there Pinning and sharing and making homemade granola and turning broken bottles into mosaics. You’ve found your place! I’ll continue to forget to check my account for weeks at a time and dream that someday I’ll be part of the crafty, stylish Pinterest culture. But if you want to follow my sad, lonely account, you can find me there under SunshineTricia, probably pinning chocolate cake recipes.