I know all too well the pitfalls of parent-child relations on Twitter. But I want to highlight a different—and entirely delightful—form of parent-child interaction on social media.
New parents, full of joy, have a way of overwhelming the streets of the Internet: sharing intimate birth photos on Facebook and livetweeting potty training. It’s refreshing, then, when parents have a sense of humor about the newest member of their family—and can express it without pretension or self-absorption.
Meet @Irisgrim. She’s about a year old, and she’s been tweeting since a few weeks before she was born. Her twitter account bio says she’s “interested in meeting new people, trying new things.” I suspect the account is mostly maintained by her dad, Huffpost DC bureau chief Ryan Grim (who was once, full disclosure, a colleague of mine at the Huffington Post; he’s also written for Slate, but before I came aboard).
Iris’s earliest observations filtered the frustrations and mundanities of early parenthood through the wide-eyed wonder of someone new to the world—to comic effect:
Headed to CVS, apparently the only business that exists on earth
Does breast milk have carbs? Because I KEEP gaining wait. I’ve, like, basically doubled in size.
just got a tour of the new apt I’m sharing with @ryangrim and @elizan. It’s nice. Where’s the rest of it?
She also comments on current affairs, slyly contrasting her parents’ interest in politics with an infant’s less partisan demands:
The most dangerous spot in DC is not between Chuck Schumer and a camera, but between me and a boob. Just an FYI.
I’m not into sharing. You sacrifice. MT @SenatorSanders Mr. President, please listen: deficit reduction must be about #SharedSacrifice.
And she teases her parents relentlessly:
Hey babies out there: Is The Internationale a pretty common lullaby? (I think I know the answer, but just checking.)
omfg. does this guy really think reading me 20 pages on swipe fees counts as a bedtime story? I’ll go to sleep already…
Met a bunch of the folks in my gene pool today. Uh oh. Not liking my chances so much. #fml
On that last point, I disagree: Iris, I’m sure, has a bright future ahead of her.
