At The Worst Possible Moment, Take A Picture.

I was unexpectedly inspired the other day by an old photograph.

In the picture, 3-year-old me is guiltily looking at the camera while standing in the middle of the worst Cheerios mess ever…complete cereal chaos.

Cute?

27 years later…yes.

And that is precisely what inspired me.

A few decades ago, my mother had the foresight to snap a picture in the middle of a messy, frustration-inducing, misbehaving moment.

She took a picture when most of us – when I – would absolutely not be considering a picture. Lots of things are on my mind in those type moments…how to clean it up, how to be saint-like yet still execute justice, how to convince my 3-year-old that an early bedtime would be super fun.  But taking a picture of the crime?  Not on my mind.

Here’s what I’m proposing…

when one of those moments arises – and you know what those moments are – set discipline and correction and clean-up aside for just a moment and snap a picture.

It may sound crazy, but I bet that decades from now when we are old-ish ladies emotionally flipping through photo albums, it will be so fun and refreshing to have the occasional picture of our child painting the white carpet in the middle of all of the happy, smiley, normal pictures.

I tell myself that “there is no way I will ever forget this moment!”…but the truth is, I am only 5 years into this parenting thing and already there are gobs of moments – hilarious, messy, sweet, incredibly naughty – that I have already forgotten.

I’m going to start taking pictures…especially of the moments where I’m about to go insane.  I want to one day enjoy pictures like the ones my mother has of me.

So, here’s to snapping pictures smack in the middle of a pre-spanking moment.  🙂

ARE YOU WITH ME??
🙂

If you enjoyed this post, you might also want to check these out:

• Then & Now:  Kids Change Everything
• Champion Them Rather Than Change Them
• When I Was A New Mom And Everything Freaked Me Out
• Parents Say The Darndest Things

Photo credits:  here and here

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of a hardworking man and the momma of five precious children – three boys and two princesses! I love them so much. I spend most of my day homeschooling, cooking, and playing outside, and it’s really fun to write about. I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.