Bartel may find kids and the spotlight can be an awkward mix
There’s no doubting that Jimmy and Nadia Bartel’s sons are loved by their parents. But as the couple’s split fallout continues, maybe that love could be better expressed by keeping the boys off social media, writes Mandy Squires.
Opinion
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There’s been a lot of sympathy for “brave” and “heartbroken” WAG Nadia Bartel over recent weeks after news broke of her split from her husband, the Geelong great and Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel.
But despite the fact Jimmy has apparently moved on with Nadia lookalike Lauren Mand, we should not assume he is not feeling pain over the marriage break-up, especially when it comes to his precious children.
The eldest is only three and the baby not even a year old, and Geelong sources say that Jimmy still spends a lot of time with his little boys, who he absolutely adores.
And, of course, the boys are victims in the Bartel split too; arguably the biggest ones.
Like most kids whose parents break up, they will most likely come through it relatively unscathed.
Having a mother and father living apart won’t be ideal, but neither will it be insurmountable, or even unusual.
What is far sadder, in my opinion, is the fact the boys have been in the media spotlight since they were born.
Indeed the eldest — whose ultrasound image and entry into the world was posted on Nadia’s blog — was made famous in the womb and labour ward and thrust into the world of social media as a newborn.
Since birth, both boys have featured regularly on their mum’s blog and social media accounts as she and — unknowingly — they spruik clothes, cosmetics, cars, multivitamins and Fisher Price toys.
It has not been their choice to become such public figures and be featured so prominently on Nadia’s social media, nor has it been of their making to become the baby faces of Swisse infant vitamins and elixirs, or unwitting promoters of other products.
Those decisions have been made for them and continue to be.
How the children of social media influencers will react as they grow older and find they have been arguably used as commodities by their parents for Instagram popularity, remains to be seen.
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Maybe we will see class actions by influencers’ children in the future. Who knows?
That is not to say or imply that Nadia is a bad parent; in fact, to the contrary, her devotion to her children is obvious.
But I wonder if maybe that love would be better shown by keeping the kids off her social media platforms, rather than featuring them.
They will have enough to contend with as it is.
— Mandy Squires is a Sunday Herald Sun journalist
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