It seemed like a good idea. She was going to age out so we set her up with a Facebook page. We thought it would be an easy way for her to stay connected to her friends.
It took some convincing but she finally agreed to let us help her set up a page. She found it very fun to personalize it with her pictures. Next came the friends. “Why do I have to have friends?” We explained that the purpose of Facebook is so you can stay in touch with them and see what they have been doing while you’re apart. Here’s a list of people you know. “Do I have to put them all on?” No just pick a few to start off with.
With princess pictures and a handful of friends her page was up and running. Now we thought this would get her more interested in some of her friends from school that were her same age. It would be perfect. She could “socialize” from her own house. This would be great especially since we were in the midst of a pandemic and staying away from others.
Well we were wrong on that thought. Facebook during a pandemic, we have discovered, has left our daughter focused on three things. First, our Governor. Once she discovered that Facebook allows you to search people she zeroed in on our Governor. She expressed her thoughts to him daily about his decision to shut down everything. She wasn’t bothered that stores,movie theaters or restaurants were closed. It was her princess parties that was making her angry. The Governor had left her cut off and she was not too happy about it. I don’t know how she learned that she could express her opinions through Facebook but she certainly did. How dare he do this and he should stop being Governor was her daily message. When you are that angry you can learn to do a lot of things. Who would have ever guessed that in 2020 she would become politically active.
Not only did she learn she could track down the Governor but she could also track down EVERY princess party place in the world. And that is exactly what she has done. Princess party places have provided endless online entertainment throughout this pandemic. They have filled their Facebook sites with story times, Princess balls, arts and crafts, cooking and pajama parties. The void they have filled for so many children is tremendous. It’s all good and seems wonderful but…Here’s where it gets tricky and our problems begin. Since we now follow EVERY princess company in the world we are trying to watch EVERY online princess event in EVERY timezone. She’ll show me it’s listed as starting at 6:00 p.m. What she doesn’t understand is that it is 6:00 p.m. CST time or PST time. Hello Elsa we would love to have pajama time with you but not if you’re Elsa from Alaska.
Despite the fact that she doesn’t seem to be interested in having hundreds of Facebook friends she does enjoy her “teacher friends.” Right from the start of her journey through school she always had to be pushed to socialize with her peers. She was always more comfortable talking to her teachers. The same holds true for Facebook. Teachers and other adults always capture her attention. A Facebook page, we have realized isn’t going to change that.
So here we are it’s 2020, we are in the midst of a global pandemic, my daughter has her very own Facebook page, has become politically involved, still has no concept of time and is quite happy with the friends in her life. 2020, to say the least, has certainly been an interesting year in our journey and we still have a few months to go. With masks on we will just keep moving on down the road.
Princesses and Predictability 