I have a big extended family, and everyone lives far away, mostly in Texas. At some point, my mom and I thought Skype would be a great idea. Then she busted me for rolling my eyes at her, which was a bit awkward. All these years, she couldn’t hear me rolling my eyes over the phone.

But the kids are busy and have a lot of activities. It’s hard enough to get us all seated for dinner. Sitting down to video chat wasn’t working well. That, and my mom couldn’t quite figure out how to dial in on Skype. So that was the end of that.

Eventually, we embarked on the social media scene, primarily Facebook. It’s been fun to share pictures and stories with my aunts and uncles and cousins. But there have been a few hiccups.

I have a love/hate relationship with my mother and Facebook. I love my mom. And I love Facebook. But the two, as proven time and time again, should never mix. Ever. Don’t even get me started on that farm story game.

Sure, I can block and remove mean people. But what are the ethics of blocking people we love (ahem, my mom) who have a tendency to hinder our very funny and very cool social media vibe with the click of a comment?

The upside to having my mom and family on Facebook is that we can share pictures, funny stories, and accomplishments. The downside is when my mom is so proud of the picture that she shares it and makes it public. That’s a Facebook security no-no for Momma. Fortunately, Facebook settings allow me to share pictures privately, banning my mom from sharing my kids’ photos. I have to update the setting on occasion.

One thing is for sure: Learning privacy settings and having conversations with my mom have prepared me for current Max and Lucy’s emergence onto the social media scene.

Teaching my mom about the social graces of family on Facebook is a good lesson for me as my own kids start surfing the social media wave. Oh God, I’m going to be my mom on Instagram with my kids. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’ll keep my kids in line. Or maybe I’ll treat my kids as I want to be treated, and it’ll keep me in line. Just please don’t tell my mom about Twitter.