I'm often told that these days when my kids are young, are going to fly by. I try to think back on my oldest daughter learning to crawl, or her sweet little 3 year old face covered in sticky pink cotton candy from a visit to the fair. I realize if it were not for pictures and videos these moments would be gone. My brain has to push out the old to make room for constant assault of here and now. When I look at a photo it brings the moments back to me. It fills in the blanks left behind with time. It's time travel. A little bit of magic if you ask me.
I always wish I would have taken more photos and videos when my youngest two were babies. Alas the daily demands of caring for two kids 11 months apart in age didn't even leave me with a thought to record the daily chaos. But in this age of social media I'm thinking more about it. I learned about this free cell phone app called Timehop. It shows you what you posted on facebook, twitter, and instagram, exactly one year ago, two years ago etc. I really enjoy opening the app each day and seeing my kids faces look back at me over the past 5 years that I have been using these social media outlets. I'm watching them grow up before my eyes. I'm reminded what they looked like and what they were doing years ago on this very day. So all this got me thinking. What can I post today that will capture this day, these moments, this stage in life so I can time travel back to this very day when I open my app in 2015 and beyond? I know I won't recall the joys of potty training an ADHD child, or the explosive diapers of a baby with cystic fibrosis, or that my sweet Katie was student of the month. My boys may not remember that they got along a year ago and were cuddled up in bed together playing games on their kindles when I went to see what they were up to. But now I have proof! On days they need to be reminded that their siblings are their biggest blessings I will pull up these photos to show them how lucky they are to have so many siblings to share this unique journey with. I'm documenting these days as they go by and I'm hoping it will be a blessing to them as they grow older. This is my legacy. This is my joy. To watch them grow, to shape them as I can, but to really just celebrate who God has made them to be.
I've taken on the challenge to commit to capturing moments. Messy ones, sweet ones, frustrating ones, slow gentle days, crazy hectic days that feel like they will never end, days I question why I'm doing this at all, and the days I feel like I'm a rock star at what I do. I want to be able to travel back to these fleeting moments and reflect on how they have all been added together to give me this crazy beautiful life I call my own. I want the raw and real moments along with the sweet ones. I want to be able to show my daughters that motherhood is the most complicated, challenging, and beautiful thing they may ever do. That families are formed in ways that you may never see coming. That you may never have it all together, but together you can have it all.
How will you capture your moments? What is happening around you right now that you can document and preserve? It only takes a moment to snap some photos during your day on your cell phone. Think about capturing a moment as it happens. When you walk in to find your toddler has taken off his diaper and proceeded to paint all over the walls with its contents during nap time, stop and take a breath. Then pull out your phone and take a picture. You will want this photo when he's 18. That's where you get payback from cleaning poop off his wall all those years earlier.
I've also had to work on letting myself be in photos. It's easier to be the one taking them and not have to worry about how plump I look in the photo. But I'm thinking I will never be as young as I am right now. I will want to remember how I look right now as I move on the wrinkles and smile lines phase of life. I want my daughters to be comfortable having their picture taken, so I need to set the example for them. I am beautifully and wonderfully made, and so are they. All too soon these type of days will be gone and replaced by different kinds of days with their own special moments. These beautiful children of mine will be grown and capturing their own moments. I hope I will be able to convince them to capture their own days and send them to me as they begin to go off on their own journeys. But for right now these ordinary moments of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, homework, tantrums, and pre-teen hormonal fluctuations, are adding up to make one extraordinary life.
I always wish I would have taken more photos and videos when my youngest two were babies. Alas the daily demands of caring for two kids 11 months apart in age didn't even leave me with a thought to record the daily chaos. But in this age of social media I'm thinking more about it. I learned about this free cell phone app called Timehop. It shows you what you posted on facebook, twitter, and instagram, exactly one year ago, two years ago etc. I really enjoy opening the app each day and seeing my kids faces look back at me over the past 5 years that I have been using these social media outlets. I'm watching them grow up before my eyes. I'm reminded what they looked like and what they were doing years ago on this very day. So all this got me thinking. What can I post today that will capture this day, these moments, this stage in life so I can time travel back to this very day when I open my app in 2015 and beyond? I know I won't recall the joys of potty training an ADHD child, or the explosive diapers of a baby with cystic fibrosis, or that my sweet Katie was student of the month. My boys may not remember that they got along a year ago and were cuddled up in bed together playing games on their kindles when I went to see what they were up to. But now I have proof! On days they need to be reminded that their siblings are their biggest blessings I will pull up these photos to show them how lucky they are to have so many siblings to share this unique journey with. I'm documenting these days as they go by and I'm hoping it will be a blessing to them as they grow older. This is my legacy. This is my joy. To watch them grow, to shape them as I can, but to really just celebrate who God has made them to be.
I've taken on the challenge to commit to capturing moments. Messy ones, sweet ones, frustrating ones, slow gentle days, crazy hectic days that feel like they will never end, days I question why I'm doing this at all, and the days I feel like I'm a rock star at what I do. I want to be able to travel back to these fleeting moments and reflect on how they have all been added together to give me this crazy beautiful life I call my own. I want the raw and real moments along with the sweet ones. I want to be able to show my daughters that motherhood is the most complicated, challenging, and beautiful thing they may ever do. That families are formed in ways that you may never see coming. That you may never have it all together, but together you can have it all.
How will you capture your moments? What is happening around you right now that you can document and preserve? It only takes a moment to snap some photos during your day on your cell phone. Think about capturing a moment as it happens. When you walk in to find your toddler has taken off his diaper and proceeded to paint all over the walls with its contents during nap time, stop and take a breath. Then pull out your phone and take a picture. You will want this photo when he's 18. That's where you get payback from cleaning poop off his wall all those years earlier.
Check out this link to the free Time Hop app I mentioned by clicking on the link. It's not to late to start capturing your families daily moments! Timehop App
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