Just Take the Pictures
Hi there! Today I want to be super real with you. I’ve been thinking about this blog for some time and I realized thinking about it wasn’t the same as writing it so it was finally time to put my thoughts into words. Recently I held Customer Appreciation mini sessions and one mama’s words struck me as I read through her questionnaire. She explained that typically she is the “picture taker” of the family and she appreciated the opportunity to be in photos with her children and husband. Reading her words brought me so much joy because it was clear to me that she GETS IT. What is it she “gets?” She chose not to wait for the “perfect” time or a less busy schedule or when she was at her ideal weight or when her children were guaranteed to behave or when she and her husband hadn’t had an argument or whatever other reasons parents so often give for not scheduling and taking photos. She chose NOW and making that choice couldn’t have been a better decision.
But, E, you can say that because you see plenty of families in front of your lens every year and my situation is different.
No, mama, it’s not. How do I know? I know because I was that mom with a million excuses a few years ago too. The summer of 2019 was my first summer as a single mom. I’d married for the first time at 22-years-old and by 32 I was newly divorced and completely unaware about how to order car insurance much less hook up a wireless router. I’d just gotten out of a tumultuous 18 month relationship which ended in many broken promises and an even bigger broken heart. I was skating by feeding my boys a lot of peanut butter and jelly (did I mention I never really learned to cook during my ten years of being married?) and forcing a smile on my face everyday so they would know mom was ok. I locked myself out of my rental at least twice that summer, the first time requiring a phone-a-friend because we were stuck on our two-story deck with no way down and no way in. To put it lightly, I was a hot mess express.
That summer was not the perfect summer for photos. In fact, it was far from it. BUT I decided that July to ask a photographer friend of mine to take some photos of the boys and me that I could display in our new space. She happily obliged and, to this day, these are some of my favorite images of my family. The session wasn’t perfect. My oldest didn’t like the fit on his shoes so he went barefoot and my youngest played shy and wouldn’t show his face for the first twenty minutes. However, the images she captured of the love we have for each other as we began our new journey as a team of three are priceless to me.
All of this to say, please, moms and dads, don’t delay in scheduling that photo session. There won’t ever be a perfect time. Life is imperfect and that is where the beauty lies. I can promise you one day you’ll look back on those not so perfect photos and remember the perfection of your children at the ages they were. You’ll be proud of yourself for making it through the tough times and for loving them unconditionally as you trudged through the rough days. It’s really true what they say…the days are long but the years are short so just take the pictures!
