After one incredible, amazing, beautiful Minneapolis weekend, it is hard to sit back down at the computer and get back into work! This weekend I only had one shoot on the calendar, and then I got to spend some much needed quality time with my own kiddos.
After photographing a maternity session (more to come soon!!) The thought was to TRY to get some photos of my own kids downtown, but as my camera came out and my kids said, “No way fool!! Come BE with us.” Even though I rarely take out my camera with my kids (I wish I did it more!) they know that it is work for me. They know as soon as my finger touches that button, I am in work mode not mom mode, and what they needed at that moment was mom and my 100% presence and attention.
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Before I went into the “I-NEED-to-capture-you-at-this-very-moment-because-you-are-only-young-once-and-I-will-blink-and-you-will-be-grown” speech, I thought long and hard. Recently I have been reading Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford and been SO convicted every time I pick up my phone, camera, or to do list. I am now constantly asking myself the question, why. Why put this on social media? Why am I picking up my phone? Why am I deciding that whatever I am looking at on a screen is more important than the people in front of me? Why do I need to post this or that or comment here or there? (Let me tell you as a side bar, this has been so good for me and so incredibly hard and convicting!)
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Not that I don’t value a good session or good photos or see the need to push my kids to do things they don’t really feel like doing, but Saturday was not that day. I finally had a free weekend and a free day with my kids and instead of thinking about how we could enjoy the day together I was thinking how I should portray my life on social media and turing more of my attention on that than on the little people in front of me.
So instead of trying to capture the memories with my kids, or show how “perfect” my life is (which it is VERY far from!!), I decided to make and LIVE the memories with them. Unfortunately I got zero photos on my camera, about 3 on my phone, but had one incredible day getting to know my own kids more and investing into these lives. So my camera spent the day alone and I spent the day 100% fully invested in the people in front of me, and the rewards came that night, and hopefully for years to come.
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