Most mornings, I tap my way through Chrissy Teigen’s Instagram stories for my daily dose of recipe inspiration and cute kid content. As a result, I’ve become a better cook and feel like I’ve watched Luna and Miles grow up before my eyes. It’s a treat not only because the kiddos are adorable beyond words, but because Teigen offers up a glimpse into how her kids are being raised, and it seems...fairly normal. “Frozen” nightgowns, living room dance parties and fussy eating are parts of raising a kid that all parents can relate to, so even among the mommy-shaming and misguided “advice” from the general public, it paints a picture that all moms are going through it in similar ways.
There’s a caveat to Teigen’s photos and videos of her kids, though -- she doesn’t post the terrible 2s’ tantrums or anything, she said, that will thoroughly embarrass her children when they’re older.
And that seems to be the same philosophy that Danielle Fishel and husband Jensen Karp are adopting after the birth of their son, Adler, albeit in a stricter sense. After spending three weeks in the NICU when fluid was found in the infant’s lungs when he was delivered four weeks early, Adler is home and making the rounds meeting all of his extended celeb family, including Fishel’s co-stars Ben Savage and Sabrina Carpenter.
You’ll notice that silly emojis cover Adler’s face in these photos, which Fishel addressed in a lengthy Instagram caption earlier this week: “[Jensen and I] are two people who made a conscious choice to be in the public eye and share what would normally be private moments with the public,” she wrote. “Adler isn't capable of making that choice for himself, and until he is, we've decided to shield him from places where strangers can comment on him.”
That being said, Fishel went on, they don’t want to not share special moments of Adler’s life on their social channels. “I'm also not going to not post a beautiful picture of one of my best friends holding my baby for the first time because seeing an emoji over his face ticks you off...Being a parent and making decisions for your kid is tough.”
Within the post, Fishel addressed Teigen’s choice for her kids as well as Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell (who have two children: Delta, 4, and Lincoln, 6)’s, admitting that both approaches to how and when their children are shared with the world make sense to her and how it’s ultimately an individual choice.
Her concerns aren’t unfounded, of course. Take Ayesha Curry, whose followers suggested that her son Canon (who just turned a year old last month) should be put on portion control. Obviously, Curry, whose daughter Riley meanwhile is basically a social media star in her own right, wasn’t down with those comments.
Like Fishel, stars like Kristin Cavallari and Mindy Kaling, too, found that middle ground and have yet to display their children’s faces on their social media platforms. Cavallari’s kids, Camden, Jaxon and Saylor, have only been seen from behind and don’t appear on her show, “Very Cavallari.” Kaling also hasn’t revealed her daughter Katherine’s face (or father, for that matter).
But then there’s people like Elizabeth Chambers, whose feed is inundated with adorable shots of her kids (dressed like little British royals, but that’s a discussion for another day), and the Kardashian/Jenners, who give us more than what we probably need as far as kiddo content.
Is there a happy medium for famous kids on social media, after all? I say let’s take what we can get.