As I’ve done the speaking circuit for several years now on this whole social media thing I’ve always had my schpeil about it being my ‘virtual cup of sugar.’ You know, gone are the days where we borrow that cup of sugar from our neighbor and we talk kids and schools and life and we’ve moved that conversation and companionship online. I’ve found my ‘virtual’ cup of sugar in my blogging and social media communities. We still share the same friendship and advice and community-we just do it through our computers and smartphones and tablets and gaming systems.

After today though, I’ve realized the yearly (or sometimes less or sometimes more) face-to-face meet ups aren’t enough. I want my virtual cup of sugar to magically turn back into that real cup of sugar. And throw in some eggs I need for that cake I’m making too.

I want you all here.

I have seen it first hand with my illness: it does take a village. And while I LOVE that my village is available to me 24/7 with a click and a keystroke…it does not and has not replaced the need for actual kitchen table talks. For a long while I really thought it did. I truly thought this online community was what I had, and it was enough. It was all I needed.

I was wrong.

This week two of my friends came and just sat and chatted with me. I needed it. I needed just having girlfriends over to talk kids and life. Then my Mom called with news you expect parents to give after a certain age and I felt the tug of wishing they were closer so I could be there to help with doctor appointments and life. Then another ‘blog’ friend shared her trials and tribulations while she goes through a divorce and again I felt that tug of wishing she were next door, so I could walk over with tea and a pie and we could grab forks and talk and eat straight from the tin as we gabbed the night and fears away.

I love social media for this wonderful and robust community it has given me. Friends I never would have, people I never would know, true companions that have touched and helped my family in our time of need. But I also hate social media for giving me this ache in the pit of my stomach as I have become so invested in their lives and knowing so much more than I might without it- forcing me to care and love and give and curse the distance between us all.

We joke that we’d start our own commune, just so we could all be near. But even if we were, would we stay inside or walk next door to share that pie and talk shop? Hell even my husband and I tweet each other from the same couch.

Think about that for a second. We tweet each other from the same couch.

Part of why we are what we are…this community of misfits and writers and oversharers and friends…does involve the safety of our screen and keyboards. I tell you more some days because I know I won’t bump into you as I drop my kids for school and I won’t hear about it from my Aunt’s friend’s hair dresser who heard from the plumber’s roofer’s golf buddy who told HIS wife. You know, the small town thing.

So I lament our long distance relationship but wonder if it is only possible because it is the way it is. I get to have you and you get to have me because we feel safe becoming friends and staying friends this way. We feel safe falling in love with one another and one another’s worlds because we only occasionally dip our toes into those worlds and even then it’s under the guise of vacation or dinner or a brief meet up.

However with Lupus now here to stay many of you have gone from dipping your toes into my world to crossing the entire foot and body over the threshold of my door. Your luggage in hand, leaving your shoes in our cubby and figuring out which kitchen cabinet holds the mugs for tea.

And I like it. No…I love it.

I want your visits to never end and I cherish the moments from the fleeting drive through towns, to the long weekends, to the week-long stays to help.

And I think to myself…we could pull off that commune. We really could. And my mind wonders and I worry if you’ll find the right bakery or the right library or if your animals would eventually get on my nerves or if you’d quickly tire of my ailments and medications and constant need for a ride to the doctor and back.

It is because of all this I find myself wondering if we’ve gotten in over our heads with social media. Far, far over our heads. And yes, I realize I’m saying this as a professional social media strategist.

I now have more close friends who have supported me in so many ways that I can’t even begin to thank them for the love they have given me and my family. And these are NOT fake friends. These are people who have slept in my home, picked me up from procedures where I was barely conscious. I needed help putting on my bra or I told you I looked terrible with a tube down my nose and throat. You’ve met me at my doctor’s office to hug me or to hand me gifts, homemade for me or my kids.

These are the people with whom you do not just share a virtual cup of sugar. You share the real thing, so much so that it spills over the measuring cup and makes your fingers sticky as you walk back up the drive to your own home.

Maybe that’s the answer right there though…just like everything in life, relationships are sticky. And the more real they get, the stickier they get.

Social media has just brought a bigger mess into our lives. A mess that which I, for one, am grateful. It has brought family closer together as the miles continue to push us apart. It has brought old friends back into the fold and new friends into our lives.

I guess we’re all still working on how we balance that virtual vs. next door. In every neighborhood there is always the busy body looking out her blinds too much, or the neighbor you avoid because you just know she’ll talk your ear off for an hour, or just one of your best friends who you really wanted to hug and help, knowing it didn’t matter how sticky, the mess was well worth it in the end.

And while I thank the medium for giving me this community, it’s time my cup of sugar got an update.

Believe me, I know. I have them too. I have cousins who call me a socialist hippie and I have uncles who still yell ‘Run N*gg*er! Run!’ during a football game.

Now I have the luxury of being far, far away from family in California…eating my elitist, ivy league educated turkey…while I’m sure they shot and killed theirs from Sarah Palin’s helicopter. But whatever our differences, family is family, and sometimes they all have to be in the same room together.

First and foremost prepare the kids:

Of course we know that sort of talk is wrong, and we would never speak like that at our house, our school. I’m not sure why they believe that way, but they do, so we just try and be as polite as possible and tell them as nicely as possible they are offensive and wrong, and then we go home. But hopefully we won’t talk about those sorts of things at all and we can just discuss how nice the fall leaves look and how great you are doing in school, ok?

Of course that will lead to the discussion about their hippy, progressive, charter school….but let’s just take one issue at a time.

Luckily the great folks at NPR have your crazy Aunt that sends all those crazy e-mail forwards covered. You know, the ones in all caps that claim Obama is a secret Muslim and the Democrats are really building concentration camps to lock away all the Christians…or something. Check it out:

You should start by telling tell him that the emails are nearly always wrong. PolitiFact has checked 104 claims from emails and rated 80 percent of them “False” or “Pants on Fire.” Only 4 percent of the claims have earned a “True.” …

The chain emails cover a few broad themes:

Obama is unpatriotic! E-mails have said Obama complained that the troops were whiners (Pants on Fire), that he refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance (False) and that he wants soldiers to take a loyalty oath to him rather than the Constitution (Pants on Fire).

Democrats have passed a secret tax! Some recent emails claim that because of “Obamacare,” monthly Medicare premiums will more than double by 2014 (Pants on Fire) and that home sales will be taxed 3.8 percent (Pants on Fire) to pay for the new health care law. Another one in this genre says Obama’s finance team is seeking a 1 percent tax on all financial transactions (Pants on Fire).

Perks of office. Another theme in the emails is that members of Congress get excessive perks. The emails say members of Congress get full retirement pay after one term (Pants on Fire) and that congressional staffers and members don’t have to repay their student loans (Pants on Fire).

The government is coming for your guns/health data/light bulbs! Some of the conspiracy theories are truly wacky. During the health care debate, one claimed that under the public option for health care coverage, people would be implanted with data-storing microchips (Pants on Fire). A more recent email claimed the government was mandating that everyone get rid of their existing light bulbs (Pants on Fire). Another email said you must list your guns on your tax return (Pants on Fire).

Not enough to convince your Grandpa that he’s NOT about to face a death panel? Try this one on for size…the DCCC Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet!  it’s got everything from Health Insurance Reform (they call it ‘Obamacare’) to how to really appease your far right Tea Party relatives with FACTS:

EXTREME AGENDA TO APPEASE TEA PARTY

· Three times, House Republicans pushed our government to the brink of a shutdown to put their radical agenda ahead of the American people’s interests. · Voted to repeal health insurance reform; Voted to defund NPR, PBS and Sesame Street; Voted to classify pizza as a vegetable for school children; Voted to defund Planned Parenthood and stop them from offering cancer screenings; Voted to protect companies that do business with the Iranian regime

· Pushing plan to privatize Social Security · Forced the Supercommittee to fail because they insisted on more tax breaks for billionaires and Big Oil at the expense of the Medicare guarantee and creating jobs.

And if that weren’t enough, and things get REALLY ugly, Colorlines put together a nice guide on how to discuss RACE:

Instead of just being reactive, why not be proactive? Start with a question. Use plain language. Set the frame and tone you want. Create an opening for some constructive dialogue. For example, “Did you see that video of the police cracking down on the non-violent student protesters?” Or, “What do you think of the plans to shut down the neighborhood health clinic that serves mostly low-income people of color?”

Remember, if you get flustered, I’m home on Thanksgiving and if you have to, you can tweet me or text me and I will talk to Grandma and tell her that I’ve sat in the West Wing, looked these people in the eye, and they are NOT out to take her money, her 401k, or her guns.

I am a mother. I am disabled. And I have every reason to believe there are good and bad people in government -just like there are good and bad people in the world. In our own families. But at the heart of it all, we want the same thing: the American Dream. We are not that different regardless of if we show up with the big turkey or the vegan casserole. We want to make sure those we love get what they deserve and those we care for are taken care of. We may just not agree on how to get there. But make it clear that no one wants anyone to suffer. I know that one is hard to swallow when we all could swear those conservatives really do not care if we live or die, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt this holiday, and tell them you expect them to give you and their President the benefit of the doubt as well.

The First Lady isn’t trying to take their burgers. She is simply trying to help kids exercise and eat better- right along with moderation in many things she enjoys her fries and her ice cream and allows her kids to have treats just like we do. Her overall goal is to just make sure kids know what brocoli is and that it’s better for them than a chocolate bar. No biggie, right?

Now, with that in mind, and some ammo in your pocket (the factual kind I provided above, not the real kind your Uncle has behind that glass hunting case you’ve told the kids they aren’t allowed to go anywhere near) try and enjoy your family. Give thanks that our country is so diverse that we can argue and not be thrown in jail for speaking out. Tell them you stand by the PEOPLE not the BANKERS (if they dare bring up OWS) and that you would expect they too would be for hard-working citizens, not heartless foreclosure mongers who give out billion dollar bonuses while charging them extra claiming they aren’t making enough money.

And always, always, eat the dark meat. It’s the best by far, and it will piss off your racist Grandpa when you tell him dark is best.

Good luck.

*updated on Thanksgiving morning – it’s been pointed out that I have not mentioned how to handle the ‘gay’ issue with your family. It saddens me because I’d hope that we’ve come far enough where even the craziest of families HAVE GLBT at their TABLE helping cut the turkey, so they’d keep it civil…but alas I am probably giving too many families the benefit of the doubt that they even acknowledge their family who prefer the same sex or are transgendered people…so here is what you do…and buckle up, this is where it gets really ugly:

Listen, Aunt Betty, in our family all men and women are created equal. That means they get all of the same rights you and Uncle Bob do. Now, you might not believe in that, and your God might not believe in that, but this is America- and in America we have many Gods and many different kinds of people. So if you are a GOOD American, you will make sure everyone is EQUAL under the law. Believe me Aunt Betty, if I could take away you and Uncle Bob’s marriage I would…considering he’s been an alcoholic and has been beating you or threatening to abuse you for as long as I was a baby, and why you two get to be married and some of my best friends don’t seems like a real shame in the eyes of the Lord….but I digress. Oh, what’s that? You say ‘why do they have to call it marriage and can’t they just have some civil rights marriage or something?’ …you see it doesn’t work that way for real. Marriage and civil unions come with VERY different rights. In fact, marriage has over 1049 rights while civil unions has 300 with NO FEDERAL protection. What does that mean? It means if Chris and Chris get married in Vermont, legally, and they decide to go vacation in Mississippi…and Chris ends up in the hospital, her partner can’t make her medical decisions for her in Mississippi. There is also the problems with immigration, child support and adoption (think of all those NOT aborted babies that you want to have homes…and the LOVING homes they could go to -instead of the fucked up homes like yours) and many, many other unequal problems. Now yes Aunt Betty, I know, it all comes down to God. But again, this is America…and if I have to tolerate your God- you have to tolerate mine…or my lack of one. Was this nation founded on Christian values? Yes. But our founders were smart enough to know we’d abuse that and put protections in to make sure we didn’t. So please Aunt Betty…go get Uncle Bob another scotch and piece of pie, so you don’t get a black eye tonight and just don’t tell him you voted in favor of same-sex marriage in your state. I won’t tell if you don’t.

When a mother takes the national stage, the media is never fair.

There are the expected barbs at her parenting skills, her career, and that well worn question ‘how does she do it all?’ heard over and over again so the drum beat of sexism becomes more of a dull thump in the background noise of our lives.

I do not envy any woman running for office in this day and age. As we have seen time and time again the press asks questions of a woman they never seem to ask a man, and the question of what sort of mother she may be almost always comes into play.

As we hear more and more about Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and what she believes, I feel the need to offer a counter perspective. Taking a cue from Bachmann and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, conservative women seems to be raising their voices to promote their brand of ‘feminism.’

I love that they are speaking out in what I have always found to be a very patriarchial society. I love that they are running for office and bringing attention to the issues they care most about. So I am quick to point out that my issues with their campaigns have nothing to do with their sex, and everything to do with their stances. They use the word ‘feminism’ a lot-and taut their motherhood in order to push their agendas. Which is exactly why I think it’s important to note this is not my kind of feminism or motherhood.

It’s something I am, admittedly, not intimately familar with. Talk of being ‘submissive’ to husbands, protecting the unborn from ‘genocide’ and championing women like Phyllis Schlafly who actively worked to stop the Equal Rights Amendment. Yes, Bachmann and her fellow conservative feminists revere a woman who said ‘By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape.’ Yup, these new conservative feminists bow down to Schlafly who believes if marriage is to be a successful institution, it must…have an ultimate decision maker, and that is the husband, and she believes it is a women’s role to support men in their positions of higher authority through altruism and self-sacrifice.

These ideas are the direct opposite of feminism, unless of course the woman chooses to live this way and the rest of her female sisters may choose to live another.

No, this Bachmann, Coulter, Ingraham, Palin, Malkin feminism is certainly not my kind of feminism. And it is NOT the way I mother.

Why is that important? After all we all mother differently, right? It’s important because right now the Mom I see hogging the spotlight is promoting a dangerous and disgusting type of motherhood I want to make sure does not go main stream -and to show the media we’re not all like this.

As a mother, I will not be teaching my children there is something ‘wrong’ with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or a transgendered person. Despite what you may see during the debates, being a good Mom does NOT include demonizing the LGBT community or supporting any measures that would force to change the sexuality of any person. I would also go so far as to say a good mother would be addressing the unusually high suicide rates of LGBT teens in her community.

As a parent, I would also be doing anything I could to protect my kids. While there are many different view points on vaccines, at the very least we can all agree that scientists and studies should be used when making your decision to vaccinate. What should not be used are scare tactics, misinformation, and rumors. As a mother I educate myself as best I can when it comes to decisions I have to make, and I certainly do not tell a national television audience lies that could cost lives. Shame on Bachmann for resorting to the gossip whispered at PTA meetings about the HPV vaccine instead of the facts.

Another job I have as a Mother is to show my children we are all created equal, regardless of skin color, religion, ethnicity, or gender. Recently Bachmann showed ignorance at best and racism at worst when she said immigration in America worked very well under the Asian Exclusion Act. Yet another example of a mother taking center stage and spouting racist rhetoric, while many of us watch from our living rooms screaming at the tv ‘NO NO NO SHE IS NOT LIKE US.’

These are just a few examples of just how different one ‘feminist’ mother is from the next, and how those of us who are not ‘conservative feminists’ disagree wholeheartedly with the policy and stance of the current crop of mothers talking politics.

So keep in mind as you see female after female take to the cable news shows calling themselves feminist pundits and politicians that these women do not speak for me. They do not speak for the women I know who call themselves feminists, truly fighting each day against the patriarchy (not submitting to it) and working hard for equality. An equality that includes more than one path for women and girls who wish to be anything they want to be, under terms they, themselves, set.

Because despite all the rhetoric you hear from these women on stage and tv claiming to be champions of all females, the absolute only thing we have in common is the name ‘Mom.’