Time for another episode of my InstaRoundUp where I use the Top 5 most liked pictures from my Instagram profile, as voted for by my followers, and I try to provide more context for my readers as to what was actually going on in my life at that moment, or the back story of the post.

Let’s get on with the show …

In at No. 5 we have the image I created for my blog post entitled Has The Gender Neutral Movement Gone Too Far? This post was a bit of a rant. I felt like I had been mommy shamed after my post about 25 Things Moms Of Girls Will Understand! where I was having a bit of a laugh and embracing the fact that my girls like pink things and pretty girly things etc. There seems to be a general consensus that girls who like pretty things only do so because that’s what we as their parents expose them to and force down their throats, and that these types of girls will never amount to “anything of consequence” and are more likely to be destined for the lifestyle of a WAG or Reality TV life. I vehemently object to that idea, just for the record. My post goes on to just call for calm and a reality check and let’s all just realise that kids do actually have a mind of their own and just because my daughter chooses the pink frilly dress doesn’t mean she may not end up being leader of her own prison gang! Consider yourselves forewarned. 

One interesting point to note that came from my post was that the moms of boys (clearly I have no idea about their world) are loving the fact that boys get more choice in their wardrobe thanks to the gender neutral movement. I love that! It’s not something I was aware was a problem, obviously as I only have girls. So whilst I had my little rant I am glad to have been made aware of the other side of the coin. Thank you to all the moms of boys who commented. One interesting point to note is that I saw the theme of ‘salmon’ coming from a lot of you boy moms – I’d like to take this moment to thank Ross from Friends for that one!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BatQxe3BXaq/?hl=en&taken-by=momoftwolittlegirls

No. 4 is my #WineWednesday post from yesterday! Clearly much love for this one as I posted it less than 24 hours ago and it’s already made the two-week Top 5. I always look forward to Wednesdays, not just for the wine but for the engagement on my Instagram. You guys are alcoholics awesome!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba9NNMvBLLQ/?hl=en&taken-by=momoftwolittlegirls

No. 3 is my #winewednesday post from last week. I love this picture. I’d taken a selfie that morning of me actually sitting on the sofa drinking a cup of coffee *Gasp! How dare I?* (that pic is actually in at No. 2 below). Then that evening I took a selfie of me having a glass of wine, on the sofa again. I thought it was a fun post to create based on my old Mom Fuel post. The quote suited the picture so well too so all in all it was a ‘meant to be’ moment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bardt2kB0Wk/?hl=en&taken-by=momoftwolittlegirls

No. 2 As I said, my morning coffee selfie. This was actually part of a hashtag experiment to see how much more engagement I would get if I loaded the post with as many hashtags as I could that were applicable to the post, obviously. It seems to have worked because this is one of my most liked posts ever!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaqbSlbhjoG/?hl=en&taken-by=momoftwolittlegirls

No. 1 is part of the same hashtag experiment, obviously a different set of hashtags was used, it’s a completely different post, but the exposure it got due to the hashtags and the lovely quote itself seems to have been a winning combination. This is my second most liked post ever! Thanks everyone!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaoGX7QBp27/?hl=en&taken-by=momoftwolittlegirls

So to sum up, you guys like my #WineWednesday posts and coffee posts, and loading posts with hashtags does actually increase exposure and engagement.

I’m also pleased to celebrate the fact that my Instagram following finally cleared the 1500 followers mark. Woohoo!! *cue mass unfollowing!*

If you want to read the previous instalment of this series you can check it out here … and don’t forget to check back in a couple of weeks for the next one.