How often do you get in pictures with your kids? I’m guessing the answer is “not often enough”. I know that’s mine! But why? What holds us back from capturing those precious memories with our children? I could rattle off a slew of different answers because I always have an excuse. It’s hard to see myself in pictures. I’m a little more fluffy than I’d like to be, I hardly ever fix my hair, I’m usually in clothes I wouldn’t want to be seen in outside of my own house, my teeth are crooked, I could go on and on. But guess what? My kids could not care less. I don’t think they notice any of these things about me. When they look at me, they see a loving caretaker (they also see their cook, chauffer, maid, and nurse, but you know how it goes). They see someone who has literally been with them from the beginning of time. Someone who makes them feels safe, someone who looks at them with a twinkle in their eye because they can’t express in words how much they love their children. They don’t see my flaws, they see me for me.
Society has really influenced the way we, as women and mothers, view ourselves. Don’t gain more than 45lbs during pregnancy, but don’t lose weight either. Get back to pre-baby weight as fast as you can, but make sure you’re still eating enough to be able to nourish your baby. Work out every day, but don’t take too much time for yourself so you can bond with your baby. Cook healthy dinners every night, but don’t get too overwhelmed by screaming children, crying babies, or a messy house. Who comes up with this stuff? Motherhood is HARD. The last thing we should be worrying about is how we look in a picture. I don’t want to look back on my life in 20 years and regret not taking enough pictures with my kids. We can’t get this time back, and as slowly as it feels like it’s moving, it goes by so fast.
When I ask my kids to take a picture with me, they almost always oblige. I don’t do it as often as I should, but I think it feels special to them. They feel included, and I think it makes them feel loved. My youngest daughter likes to look through old pictures on my phone. When she gets to photos with her and I both in them, she lingers just a little bit longer. She doesn’t know it yet, but she will cherish those photos so much when she is an adult. She will look back on them and hopefully remember the way mommy hugged her, kissed her all over, and squeezed her tight. We’re not just taking pictures of people, we’re taking pictures of feelings and of memories. And that is what is truly important.
With Mother’s Day coming up in a couple months, I challenge you to get in the picture. Stop sitting on the sidelines taking photos of your children and significant other. Join the fun, don’t worry about the way you look. Allow those memories to be captured, and think about the less important things later. Maybe even put them in a separate folder that can be saved for your kids when they’re old enough to hold onto them (you don’t even have to look at them). Remember that you are so much more than the skin on your body. You have a whole story to tell. Don’t leave your loved ones out of it.
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