Are you spreading shame and judgement instead of joy?

The holiday season is by far my favorite time of year. I absolutely love seeing all the lights and decorations and putting up the Christmas tree with the kids. This time of year just always gives me that warm fuzzy feeling, but for some it brings a lot of judgement.

Recently a mother came under fire over social media for providing TOO MUCH for her children.

Emma Tapping, mother of three and savings blogger, posted an image on her Instagram account showing her Christmas tree almost engulfed in presents. Soon after the image was taken and used to create a meme stating: “It's nearly time for all the materialistic parents to compete and broadcast how many presents their kids have. Just remember, there are a lot of children who won't get much.”

This set off a social media frenzy of people criticizing and casting judgment upon this mother for her post.

People started telling her that she was spending too much on her children. That she shouldn't spoil her kids like that. That it was wrong for her to post how much she had bought for her family when there were families out there with nothing or very little to give.

It's astonishing how many people came out of the woodwork just to slam this mother and judge her for how many gifts she had purchased for her kids. We live in a society today where, thanks to social media, people can be random assholes to anyone else.

People who would probably be perfectly nice to your face can go online and judge, insult and even sometimes threaten others. Have we become a society of assholes or is it just easier to be one due to the anonymity of the internet?

Personally I have no issue with this mother or how much she bought her children. Would I buy that much for my kids, no – but we aren't talking about me. These are her children and it is her money to do with as she pleases – so why do so many people feel that they can jump all over her for it?

Not everyone were jerks about it though. Many people came to her defense online. Many who understood that not only was she allowed to do for her children as she pleased, but also that she was a savings blogger who knows how to get more bang for her buck!

Also, because she is a saver she was probably able to buy more gifts because of the money she had saved throughout the year!

I've done posts before about judging others and how as parents we sometimes face it from multiple different sources. Sometimes we are judged by what we do or don't do as parents. How we discipline or don't discipline our children. We get judged by our families, friends, other parents and now thanks to social media complete strangers!

This is the time of year when we are supposed to be a little bit kinder and nicer. I mean we should be those things all year round but at Christmas time even more so right?

So why lately do I see more people being rude, mean, flat out jerks to others? Who are you to cast your judgement upon me or anyone else? Is your life perfect? Are YOU perfect? No, because none of us are. And if this woman wants to buy her children a mountain of presents then who are you or anyone else to tell her she shouldn't?

Are there many children out there who have very little or nothing coming their way for Christmas? Of course there are. And sadly it will probably always be that way. However, should you just assume that because this woman bought so much for her kids that she isn't aware of that? Do you know if she donated all of their old items to those who were in need? Do you know if she used her smart shopping savvy to buy even more stuff and donated that to those in need?

No you don't. You don't know and therefore you shouldn't judge.

The best thing about the holidays for me is watching my children open whatever gifts they get. There were many years where we didn't have much, and there have also been years where we had an abundance of gifts. Either way as long as I teach my children to be grateful for all they have then it doesn't matter how much or how little they get.

And for all anyone knows this woman teaches her children the same thing. I mean if she blogs about saving money I'm sure she has to be imparting some of that wisdom onto her children.

So how about instead of sitting in judgement of people we do not know, instead we start embracing the spirit of the season and be a little kinder to one another. Stop judging and shaming people you don't even know and start spreading joy instead.

I'll start by wishing EVERYONE the Happiest of Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Festivus for the Rest of Us!

XOXO