Saturday, May 10, 2014

A Mother's Day Present for my Future Self

This month's blog entry for the "Keepin' it Real" project is entitled, "Real Simple." So, I chose a simple project:

All the simple things I love about my girls.

Looking through these images (taken with a 100mm macro lens while they were watching TV... of course), I began to realize what these photographs really mean to me. All of the sweetness and innocence of childhood. The way my daughters are right now.

The sad thing about "right now" is that "right now" is always over when the moment ends. The only way we can keep these moments locked away in a vault is to capture them with our words and our photographs. So, I am putting these images away in a time capsule - yes I'm even PRINTING them (gasp!), along with this letter.

A Mother's Day present for my future self:

Dear Me in 2024,

Happy Mother's Day! These days you are busy running around town to various activities with your 2 teens and 1 "tween." You are guiding them through some tricky situations and some "growing up" problems. You may have already had some yelling arguments or been told that they "hate" you or you are "ruining their lives."
Keep persevering.
Guide them to make good choices.
Let them learn from their own mistakes - and not yours.
If you ever get too frustrated and feel like throwing in the towel, take a minute to enjoy the simple things.

Look at these photos. Do you remember when they were this young?

Close your eyes and go back in time. You can almost smell the chicken nuggets warming in the oven and the sour burp cloth that fell behind the couch.
Sweet baby feet on the couch (with the ever-overgrown toenails that they don't like you to cut), blonde ringlets,
plump, rosy cheeks... those eyelashes.

Keep calm and parent on. You can do this.

Love,
Me in 2014





For more "Real Simple" moments, visit the Amanda Faucett Photography blog. Amanda captures real moments for every milestone - from newborn to senior - in the greater Houston area.