All I wanted was a picture. Just one quick picture of my adorable boys in their cute matching red, white, and blue polos. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently, yes.
A good friend from high school (hey Christa!) once told me that the secret to decorating is filling your house with things that you like and make you happy to look at. Well, pictures have always been important to me so my house is filled with framed portraits on the walls and candids in tabletop frames on most surfaces. They are my favorite thing to look at and I love to change out pictures in frames to reflect our current season in life while leaving out a few memories from seasons past.
Like a lot of parents, my boys have festive clothes for most holidays: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Taco Tuesday. Okay, maybe not Taco Tuesday, but that’s not a bad idea…. I would love to have a picture of Brayden and Logan in their cute outfits, sitting politely, smiling at the camera, arms around each other, laughing.
But, who am I kidding?
In this current toddler season of life, our pictures are filled with blurry kids, behind-the-scenes bribing, pushing/pinching/hitting our brother, crying, and refusing to look at the camera (and that is just Wes! – kidding, sort of).
For me, it is just not worth the stress that posed pictures place on my family. While I wish that I could quickly snap a “perfect” photo and move on with our day, it is just not meant to be right now. And, in theory, I would rather Brayden and Logan live in the moment and experience joy without having to stop and pose for a picture.
I’m going to be honest. This does not mean that I am going to stop trying for a posed and smile-filled picture, but I am learning to be grateful for the beautiful pictures that I have. And, along the way I am probably going to have to settle for some low maintenance, slightly blurry, joy-filled candids. Those are the moments that make the memories anyways.
That post may be a stress reliever for many moms! But I know the feeling of wanting that perfect pic!
Unfortunately, the 80’s and 90’s with delayed film development gave us the false feeling that the perfect picture had been taken—until we opened the envelope to find our Kodak prizes blurry and over exposed.
Those perfect pictures won’t have a story behind them. You will treasure those not perfect pictures later. Besides, those little boys are just perfect anyway they are. Hugs.
Just know how many people can relate! Including the relating to the frustrated husband 🙂 but know that even the perfect pictures don’t show the reality of what took place to get that “perfect picture!” And I’m all for the bribery👆🏻I wish I could enjoy moments more instead of stressing for the pictures but I also know what it’s like to wish I had taken more pictures of someone who was taken away too soon!