By Brigid Riley TOKYO The dollar was firm on Tuesday and the Aussie under a little pressure as

Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen won a mass sprint to earn a second straight stage victory at the Tour de France, while Adam Yates kept the race leader’s yellow jersey heading into the Pyrenees mountains

Here is what to expect in Michael Soroka's first start of the 2023 season for the Atlanta Braves.For the first time since 2020, Michael Soroka will toe the rubber for the Atlanta Braves in a game that counts.To say it has been a challenging last four years for Soroka would be putting it...

Freshly cut roses. Sumptuous Marie Antoinette-style birthday cakes. Vintage Liberty dresses in Strawberry Thief fabric. Shetland ponies. These are some of the ingredients of my Instagram posts featuring my kids. I wouldn’t call myself a “sharent” by any means – someone who overshares their children’s intimate lives on social media in one long, parental “humblebrag”. But whenever I do post, it is picture-perfect. My kids look like they’ve walked straight out of a fairytale. But is it naff? Like tablescaping your kids? A form of digital narcissism? Is it, in its own unique way, a parental kind of “thirst trap”? To an extent, I’m luring others into a fantasy that doesn’t exist. I like to project a wonderfully idyllic life as a single mum... when quite frankly, it isn’t. It’s like when people try to woo their ex-partners back by posting shots of themselves half-naked and having the best time of their lives, despite crying into their pillow heartbroken all day and night. Some mums are professionals at posting perfect dreamy shots of their kids. Look no further than Carrie Johnson, Tamara Ecclestone, Stacey Solomon, and Kate and Rio Ferdinand. For celebrities and influencers, a picture-perfect ideal is the norm on social media – there are lots of cream interiors and matching Christmas jumpers. They might be promoting a homeware brand, or tagging a pram they got for free. Even when it’s tastefully done, like the former PM’s wife’s Instagram, it always gives the impression that motherhood is wondrous. That life is one big, happy Timotei advert. Even when celebrities try to be more candid, it doesn’t work. Mum-of-two Millie Mackintosh, formerly of Made in Chelsea, recently posted a “toddler tornado dump” on her Instagram. “I feel like it’s so easy to always share the nice, polished, life,” she wrote. “Well, today, I’m here to break that pattern.” The glimpse “into the delightful chaos” of Mackintosh’s maternal life included photos of a toothbrush and toothpaste on a bathroom basin, a bedroom littered with hair bows, and a make-up drawer with a few brown concealer stains on it. Really? Is that as bad as motherhood gets? For me, it’s simply more interesting to post magical rather than mundane shots. But why on earth do I want to present my kids as if they’re living in one long, tasteful pastel-coloured dream, where everything looks enchanting? No messy hair. No sleep deprivation. No kids bored out of their minds. I don’t require a filter, either – I’m already looking at life through rose-tinted spectacles, and expecting everyone else to do the same. But am I totally deluded? And, more than anything, could it be damaging to my children? Dr Charlotte Armitage, who is currently the duty-of-care psychologist on ITV’s Big Brother, has big concerns. “First of all, it’s impacting the relationship between the parent and a child because the relationship is contingent on the creation of these images and the number of likes that follow,” she says, adding that when you are “truly happy” with your situation, “you don’t tend to post perfect images”. It’s more important to ask ourselves the question of why we feel the need to present this kind of picture-perfect image of ourselves to the world. Is it because, in reality, we are discontented with our lives? Dr Charlotte Armitage, psychologist As parents, she continues, we are modelling behaviours to our children. “They learn by imitation – if mum is taking photos and seeking validation from likes, the child starts to become validated by these likes themselves and will develop an external focus of control; they will learn that validation comes from what others think of them. This is unhealthy because, throughout life, a child’s self-esteem and self-worth become based on what others think about them rather than how they feel about themselves.” The key, she says, is realising we shouldn’t use social media to fulfil our self-worth. “It’s more important to ask ourselves the question of why we feel the need to present this kind of picture-perfect image of ourselves to the world,” she says. “Is it because, in reality, we are discontented with our lives?” According to research, the average child today has had their image put on social media 1,300 times before the age of 13 – I can see this trajectory for my kids unless I put on the brakes. There are already widespread concerns over the data. In France, an anti-sharing bill continues to be discussed in the country’s senate, and parents could potentially be banned from sharing photos of their children on social media. It could also become mandatory for influencers to admit if a photo or video they posted was retouched or filtered. There is controversy over whether pictures of kids should even be posted online at all, as many are too young to even give permission. How will they feel about the spread of their image in the future? What happens if their identity is stolen – or worse, used by paedophiles? Does it promote a distorted reality of motherhood, compared with which other “normal” mums feel inadequate? And can it backfire on the parents when children’s rights in the digital era are not honoured? “Children tend to be frustrated or critical of the way their parents share images of them,” says Professor Sonia Livingstone, from the department of media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “Not because they are made to seem ‘perfect’ but because they can be embarrassed, even shamed, in the eyes of their peers. Meanwhile, parents feel hugely under pressure in many ways, both to be perfect parents and also because such images leave parents competing with each other and isolated in their own seemingly inadequate lives.” Dr Cosmo Duff Gordon is the founder of leading addictions clinic Start2Stop, and a psychologist in private practice at Chelsea Recovery Associates. He says that in his 20-year career as a psychologist, he’s “never had a parent sit in front of him and say ‘I’m addicted to Instagram,’” but that’s not because social media addiction doesn’t exist. He puts it largely down to “denial” – “not least since the use of social media can involve so many of the processes that usually characterise classic alcohol or drug addiction”. Denial being the number one culprit. “Obvious ones might be obsession, compulsion, capture of attentional focus and loss of control,” he says. “More subtly, social media use can involve the same sort of self-medication, or escape from reality, that addiction offers – and being a parent is hard. That’s why drifting into a fantasy land can be a relief from the daily grind of motherhood.” Parenting expert Hannah Keeley – aka “America’s #1 Mom Coach” – is more upbeat about mums posting potentially inauthentic photos of their kids. “The hardest truth to accept is that there are some mums who are actually professionalising motherhood to this level,” she says. “Not that they have achieved perfection, but they take pride in their performance as mums and use social media as a way to confirm that to themselves and boost their confidence to encourage their efforts. Should these mums also be obligated to ensure that all mums feel good about themselves, whether or not they have invested in their career to this level? Mums don’t have to be responsible for other mums’ perceptions.” After great debate and reflection, I’ve decided I’m happy with my Insta posts. They might be driven by my background, where my sister and I ran around in white nightdresses as if we had starring roles in Picnic at Hanging Rock. Or because I was conditioned to believe that how we look – even how thin we were – equalled self-worth. I’m not setting myself up to be a supermum. I don’t look at how many likes I get. It’s true that us mums also need to share our parenting experiences honestly, to let other mums know they are not alone. But for now, I’m not doing a U-turn – I’m just living the fairytale dream. Read More My daughter’s horsey hobby makes her happy, but our home now hums If poachers make the best gamekeepers, do siblings make the best babysitters? Mother’s song about how easy it is to be ‘such a good dad’ goes viral Will an adaptogen a day keep the doctor away this winter? Naomi Watts admits mid-thirties menopause felt like ‘the end of my worth’ Smoking causes 150 cancer cases every single day in UK, study finds

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 21, 2023--

Kevin Durant scored 38 points and Devin Booker had 24 points and a career-high 15 assists to boost the Phoenix Suns to a 131-128 win over the Utah Jazz in an In-Season Tournament game

A recession in the euro area is looking increasingly likely as the economic downturn persists in the final

Underlying inflation in the euro zone dipped by more than expected, though the retreat is unlikely to stop

A Target employee has been labelled “racist” after refusing to allow a flash mob dance to be filmed inside a store. The incident occurred when musician Baby Storme attempted to film a dance video inside the store for her single 'This City Is A Graveyard.' In the video of the attempted filming, Baby Storme could be seen standing in the middle of a Target store flanked on both sides by several backup dancers all dressed in similar gothic attire. As the clip began, the dance troop began walking towards the camera in time to the music, before the employee of the store stood in front of the camera that was filming them as the group continued with the routine. A person could be heard telling the large group, “We’re going to have to call the cops on your guys,” adding: “It’s becoming a safety hazard”. Someone in the group said: “Hey! If we all just start and multiple people record they can’t block everyone.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Baby Storme uploaded a video of the incident on the platform X. In the caption, she accused the Target employee of being “racist”. She wrote: “This racist Target employee called the police on us for dancing in Target... So we danced anyway.” But, Baby Storme’s strong accusation has received backlash after other X users added context to her tweet, writing that it is down to Target’s store policy that the dance video was stopped, not because of the race of the artist. A comminunity noted stated, “Target has a clear policy prohibiting this kind of behavior. It's not right to assume that a Target employee is racist because they are following the store's policy,” and provided a link to the company’s policy. One person argued: “Not gonna lie it’s August and y’all in the middle of Target acting like zombies. I don’t think race has anything to do with it.” Another mocked: “Is the racist in the room with us? Y’all came 80 deep doing the Thriller in Target.” “Flabbergasted by the mental gymnastics people will take to justify their self-entitled actions,” said another. It’s not the first time singer Baby Storme has faced backlash. She responded after she was criticised for filming the music video for the same single in a real graveyard. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said defeating elevated inflation was the US central bank’s top

Tom Hardy is back to work on 'Venom 3' after the SAG-AFTRA strike stalled production.

An Arsenal defender has been pictured in training despite claims of a season-ending injury.