About a week ago, I was walking into Super Target, getting in touch with my inner suburban mom, when I heard this phrase: "Daddy, can you take another one?" I turned my head to see a girl who could not have been more than 8, posing on one of the red balls outside of Target. It was not her utter lack of aesthetic sense that shocked me, but the situation as a whole.

This child was interrupting her day and delaying her dad from buying the mile-long list of groceries their family needed just so that she could have him TAKE HER PICTURE. I'm assuming that this photo was probably for her Instagram or Twitter (or whatever the kids are using nowadays) and that, my friends, is the problem.

We have become so obsessed with documenting every aspect of our life on social media that our youth believes that not only is that behavior OK, but NECESSARY. We are telling our children that they are not someone to be paid attention to unless they bring attention on themselves.

I know certain parents who will take and post over 100 (YES, 100) pictures a week, documenting every event they experienced from getting ice cream to getting gas. They are constantly yelling at their children to "SMILE!" and "SAY CHEESE!" so much so that their children don't even have time to look around, take in their surroundings, and JUST BE KIDS.

This a recent phenomenon. When I was born 20 years ago, my parents didn't walk around with their disposable Kodak cameras (remember those?) and whip it out at a moment's notice every time they saw a pretty flower. They knew that with every photo they took, they would have to bring it somewhere to be processed, which meant spending time and money. Pictures were not instantaneous. Pictures were not as easy.

But, as you all know, technology has changed and we have adapted.

Most of my generation, myself included, can say we are guilty of spending countless hours of time and energy striking the perfect pose up against a brick wall and thinking of the perfect Instagram caption to accompany it. That has become the norm in our society nowadays, and as cynical as it sounds, I don't see it changing anytime soon.

I spent months being pressured by my friends and my boyfriend to get an Instagram account, while I used to think it was superficial and a waste of time. Eventually, however, I gave in because I was missing out on important and amazing things the people I loved were doing. Without an Instagram, I wouldn't be able to see my best friend reach the top of a mountain in Arizona or create an iconic video about the second coming of Vine. Instagram and other social media platforms have their advantages, there is no denying that, but we cannot let them dictate our lives.

We need to make sure our children know that they don't need to have five different social media accounts to prove they are living their lives — they just need to live.

Moderation is a virtue, and it is essential when it comes to social media. As adults, we are not past the point of no return, but children's minds are much easier to mold.

Although I'm not a parent, nor do I nanny for a living, I do have some advice. Put your phone away when you are around kids. They don't need to see what shenanigans Total Frat Move is putting on their Insta today or see Kate Upton posting an absolutely FLAWLESS pregnancy photo. We set examples for children, whether they are ours or not, so make sure you aren't setting a superficial one.