Or maybe a better title would have been…
Holy Crap! How am I old enough to have a SECOND GRADER!
What a difference three years makes. Baby was 4 (going on 5) in the left picture, excited to be starting a new school in a new state. This year Baby is 7 (going on 15 OY!), and still just as excited for the first day of school as she was three years ago.
I know it’s been a while since I participated in a Mommy and Me Monday with Krystyn at Are You Serious, and I wanted to change that. I have a confession. I kind have a little bit of a morbid reason for making sure I get out from behind the camera. Let me explain further, just so y’all don’t think I’m nuts.
Do you know how at funerals they sometimes make huge poster boards filled with pictures of the deceased? They share magical moments like weddings, babies, birthdays, etc and all sharing the warmth and love of the recently departed. Since I have been blessed to not actually have to personally make any of these types of boards so far in my life, I can only assume that this is done to share the joy and happiness the deceased had in life. I once went a funeral service where there were hardly any pictures. It made me realize I don’t want to have to struggle to find pictures of anyone in my life. Pictures solidify memories in my opinion. I may not remember all the details from Baby’s first day of school when we first moved to GA, but seeing that photo so much comes flooding back to me.
I don’t ever want to lose that.
Ever.
So I take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Though my children may squirm, and my husband may sigh, I stand my ground and tell them to get over it and keep smiling.
One day, they will thank me. Just like I am thankful for my own parents to have dutifully carried the camera bag on family vacations, holidays and every first day of school that I can remember. Without those pictures, I would not have been able to convince anyone that my daughter has some of my traits too. Yeah, yeah. I know she looks like my husband, but I carried her. That has to count for something, right?
Do I care that my Mommy and Me picture is a little fuzzy, or that my “work makeup” isn’t on yet?
No.
The only thing that matters is those two smiles in the photo to reinforce the sweet memory of my daughter’s first day of second grade.
And I am perfectly fine with that.
******************************
Have you succeeded and gotten yourself out from behind the camera lately?
You hit the nail on the head..all of those reasons are why we do it..and even if we are tired, or don’t have our work faces on…we are there and with them in the moment!
[…] My favorite is next to the bamboo tree in the main foyer. I have been taking the pics there since Baby had her first day of Kindergarten! What’s your best tip you have for helping Prepare Your Child for Kindergarten or back to […]