Social media can be a working parent's bestie

It was one of those truly perfect days after a spate of rain showers. The sun glowed bright, but a breeze off Huntington Harbor made everyone giddy.

The event, my son's school's annual Beach Day, allows only a small group of executive PTA members there to serve lunch. Before I got appointed to the board, I would sit at work each year sad that I couldn't be there to smile as I served my son a slice of pizza.

So when I posted my status update that morning and received this response, I knew exactly how the father of my 8-year-old's classmate felt.

"Send me a picture so I can live vicariously through you!"

I snapped away and posted as many photos as I could, tagging the father and other parents of children in the shots. Soon quite a few were tapping the "like" button. The same scenario would play out a few days later during a third-grade field trip to Adventureland that more than a few parents might have liked to take the day off to chaperone.

For all the distraction, interruption and strife that can befall families as a result of social media, there are ways it can bring them together.