"I don't share photos of my kids on social media, so this private app is perfect."

I’m a millennial mum in a pickle. On the one hand, I love using social media – it makes me feel good, I can be creative and funny on it, and I love connecting with friends.

But as much as I love social media, I would never publish photos of my children on it. Social media is like the fun-loving friend who is hilarious at the pub, but not exactly babysitting material – they’d probably think that a daiquiri is a healthy fruit alternative for my kids!

Look, I think my children are the cutest and smartest things on the planet, and every single day I have to restrain myself from sending photos and videos to Ellen because I think they are stars. But something holds me back. I want to wait until they are old enough to understand privacy and permission before I go ahead and press “publish”.

This decision feels right, but also a little strange. If you looked at my Instagram grid, I’m not sure you’d know that I have two kids. The truth is that being a mum makes up 90 percent of my identity right now. My kids are five and two, so they have been home with me for many years now, and almost everything that I do is for them. Having that part of my life unshared feels odd.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Carla Gee (@bycarlagee) on Jan 3, 2019 at 2:36am PST

Lately, I’ve actually felt the need to share photos of my children in an easy and fun way, because we have moved states and we don’t get to see our friends and families as often. And when we do catch up, sometimes just telling them the story about the funny thing that happened, or the milestone my kid achieved, isn’t the same as seeing it.

I’ve recently experienced an app which has helped me to share photos and videos, but in a private and uncomplicated way. It’s also fun and inspiring to use, which is a must – I have limited ‘me time’, so if I’m going to be doing something family-orientated, I want it to be enjoyable. The app is called Momatu, and it’s free to download from iTunes, and from your web browser.

Momatu is a digital timeline, or interactive photo album, which you can use to record and celebrate the milestones of your loved ones. When you first start using it, the app will ask you to choose and caption photos and videos from your phone, and then it organises everything chronologically for you. The app is completely private, so you can just keep the timeline to yourself. But if you do want to share your child’s life journey with friends and families, you can invite them to follow the timeline easily. They’ll love leaving comments on everything you upload.

It was with genuine excitement that I invited my husband Jeff to follow the timelines I'd created for our two kids. Once he'd signed up to Momatu - which was super easy - he loved seeing photos and videos of our children from my own collection. I don't know if this is normal for other parents, but on my phone I have around 10,000 photos of the kids from the past 12 months, while he has maybe 40?

He could catch up on moments he'd missed out on, as he works full-time. Jeff left comments on the photos and videos, and it reassured me to know that these comments were in a safe, private digital space. It was lovely to relive those happy memories together.

If I had an adorable pet dog (and I really want one!), I would make a timeline for them, too! And I kind of want to create a timeline for myself, too, because it is very important for me to remember all the good moments (like celebrating my 11-year wedding anniversary a few weeks ago) and my own career milestones (having an essay published in a book last year).

Another feature of Momatu that I was excited to try was adding written journal entries (perfect for when your precious one comes out with a hilarious quote).

Looking at photos and other media should be a beautiful experience in itself, which is why I appreciate the chic and modern design of the Momatu interface. There’s lots of lovely white space, customisable and fresh colour schemes and clean typography. There are no flashing ads or weird pop-ups. It is just calming and nice to look at. Even the Momatu app symbol looks very elegant on my phone, with its pastel colours and geometric lines, unlike the slightly sleazy and teen vibes I get from social media app symbols (sorry guys).

One of my favourite parts of the app is the “Ideas” tab. The Momatu team have plenty of inspiration for you, if you feel like you’ve taken the same photo of your kid in their high chair over and over again. The “Ideas” section has tips and challenges for taking gorgeous photos, which will make recording your kids’ life all the more imaginative.

There’s a section called “30 moments in 30 days”, and I love the idea of committing to capturing your child’s cuteness every day for a month. Some of the photo ideas include trying to capture these adorable stages: “The look – you want to say no to that extra piece of chocolate but then, those eyes! How can you say no?” and “Mischievous moments – what do they get up to when they think you’re not looking?”

And if you want to see your photos in real life, there’s the option to create and print photo books, invitations and many other things (I want a cushion!), all within the Momatu app. Now, to choose from those 10,000 photos I've got on my phone...

While social media is the bad babysitter I wouldn’t let near my kids, Momatu is Mary Poppins. She’s full of ideas, endless amounts of space for your photos and other media, nice to look at (hi, Emily Blunt) and clever.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to add more photos and videos to my Momatu timeline. What about you?

Download Momatu for free on the App Store now.

This content is brought to you with thanks by our brand partner, Momatu.