I want to show you two images that really hit me lately.
There isn’t anything mind-blowing about these photos to the average viewer.
But they show my children CHANGING. So much. Children change quickly at every age, but until they reached the tween/teen years, I didn’t see so much of their childhood faces slipping away.
This is one of the reasons I encourage people to get family photos done. But not only that - it’s why I will always encourage parents to take photos of their kids, with whatever you’ve got.
In fact, it was for this reason I hired a photographer 4 years ago.
In late 2016, I began to have issues with pain in my hands. After a few months of false diagnoses, I finally was told I had inflammatory arthritis as company to my Crohn’s disease.
Once I started treatment for the pain, things got better and I was able to resume most activities. But during that unsure time, the one thing that bothered me most was that I couldn’t pick up my 5-year-old.
So once I was able to again, I booked a photographer for family photos, and I told her one thing I absolutely had to have was some photos of me holding my youngest. Not only because I had lost that ability and regained it, but because I had no idea when the “last” time would be. I cherished those photos so much. I’m happy to say I can still pick her up at 9 years old (not as easily!).
What is it you want recorded? There are just so many wild and wonderful things kids do and look like.
Chubby cheeks and freckles. The way they twirl their hair absentmindedly. A toothless grin. A certain way you hold them while they still fit in your lap. A goofy smile. Those curls that may disappear with the first haircut. Dimpled elbows and pigtails and scars and a particular haircut.
Take those images, folks. Or hire someone else to so you can be in them, too. You’ll never regret having those things recorded. I look back on my own images so often. I think about the passage of time - like a river - how it cuts into the ground and trickles away so quickly. It’s not selfish to want to slow things down or pause for a bit. It’s not selfish to want images of your NOW. Maybe it’ll change quickly. Do it again next year. Buy extra phone storage. I guarantee the sweet faces in these following images have already changed so much since I took them. I’m so glad I took them.
