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Woman's Viral Post Reminds Parents Not To Compare Themselves To 'Staged' Instagram Photos

You know the phrase, "doing it for the 'gram"? It's one that parents use, too. Even though there's nothing wrong with sharing cute pictures of your kids on social media, one woman wants to remind parents that these photos you see online aren't always as perfect as they seem.

These days, most kids have a social media presence before they're even born.

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Uploading pregnancy and maternity photos has become the norm for many modern parents. Sharing these moments online only increases once the baby arrives.

For many parents, sharing photos of their kids is just a way to keep family and friends in the loop.

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However, these photos can also create an unnecessary level of competition between parents. Tell me you haven't looked at some of these posts and thought, "How are their lives so perfect?"

At the pool, Jen watched a mom and her young daughter arrive in coordinating swimsuits.

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"The mom, with her perfect loose curls tied up in a coordinating scarf, spent the first few minutes talking loudly on her phone to a friend while her daughter stood waiting to get into the pool," Jen said in her post.

One woman's viral story is reminding us to take these perfect parenting moments from Instagram with a grain of salt.

Facebook | Jen Flint

Jen Flint, a mom of six from Utah, took to Facebook to share something she witnessed during a trip to her local pool.

The mom then began arranging toys and set up a tripod and camera near the pool's edge.

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"Then after finding just the right angle and the right light, Mama pulled out her tripod and took a few selfies with her daughter. Little One asked to get in the pool. Mama said wait and then posed her daughter in front the pool, then going in to the pool and then coming back out of the pool. Little one smiled big and said 'cheese' like she'd done it a million times," said Jen.

As she watched the moment play out, it made Jen realize that not everything on social media is as it seems.

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"What we see on Social Media isn't always real. Sometimes and often it's a complete set-up. It's staged and filtered and it's counterfeit," she said.

Unexpectedly, Jen's post went viral but she wants to be clear that she didn't share this story to shame the mom at the pool.

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Rather, she wanted other parents to remember not to compare themselves to these staged photos.

The little girl played in the pool while her mom made another phone call.

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Even though the little girl asked her mom to join her, the mom stayed on her phone.

Every parent has their good and bad days, but typically the bad ones aren't Instagram-worthy.

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Jen concluded her post with this reminder:

"Mamas, don't compare yourself. You ARE enough! You are amazing and the very best part is that you are REAL! Your dirty shirt and your messy house and your happy children are real and they are proof that you are doing it right!"

It wasn't long before the mom and her daughter packed up and went home.

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"After 10 minutes Mama ended her call, collected the sunscreen that was never applied, the water toys that never touched the water, and then her daughter and left the pool," said Jen.