Friday, January 31, 2014

Day 1/365 - Getting In The Picture

This is it!

We went to the members only preview of the Egypt exhibit at the Science Center tonight. 

So, day 1 is us - ON A CAMEL. 



I'm not quite sure how the remaining 364 days can live up to this.

Getting in the Picture - A Year Long Project



I'm sure you've seen it all over the internet.  The Mom Stays In The Picture was an essay/blog sensation - and the idea spread throughout so many of my mommy groups online.  All over, moms were taking a photo with their kids.  I did it, too.

Yes, our matching Angry Birds hats are the epitome of COOL.


But, guess what I've found happening more recently.  That's right - I've realized that I'm slowly edging myself out of the photos again.  I don't know if this is just something I'm doing - or whether it's something that other mothers struggle with as well.  I do know that when I attempted to change my desktop photo to one of all three of us, this was the only one I could find:

The kids are 10.5 and 18 months in this photo - which means that it's more than two years old.

For quick reference, this is what those three people featuring on my desktop look like now:
Please note that these are not one picture, but three separate photos, taken at separate times, on separate days, in separate places.  Therein lies the problem.

My daughter is almost 13 now.
A LOT more grown up than she was at 10.
EJ is three and a half.  He's a big boy now!
And then there's me.
I recently chopped off about ten inches of hair, so I actually have a recent photo of me.
But, just of me. Because, really, it's of my hair.


I try to get photos often - but most of the photos seem to be of my 3.5 year old.  My daughter is at an age where she doesn't like to be in photos now either - which I fear is a subconscious result of my own reluctance.


So, I'm challenging myself.
And I'm challenging my daughter.

And maybe I'm even challenging others.  

For the next 365 days, beginning on February 1, we're ALL going to be in the picture.  

Every.

Day.

And maybe, after a year, being in the picture will become habit.
And the memories that our photos document will remember that I was there, too.
Me.
As I was - in the moment.

And just maybe my daughter will learn that being in the picture is good, too.