Picture Perfect

As mothers we spend so much time trying to capture the perfect moment on film. We want video of the first steps our baby takes, we want the perfect light so we can take a picture to upload to Facebook of our toddler blowing bubbles. We force our children to smile and sit still OR ELSE so we can get the family portrait for our annual Christmas card.

 I realized today as I spent twenty minutes trying to capture my daughter at just the right angle, calling her name, and laying down on the floor, I was too busy in the future to relish the present. We want to document everything our children do, but the fact is sometimes we are missing what is happening right now just so the picture or video can be perfect. Yes pictures are important to have and hold on to through the years, but pictures aren’t as good as the real thing.

I rocked my daughter to sleep tonight. Her room was dark and peaceful. A lullaby played faintly in the background. I was flooded with memories I have shared with my child in the eighteen months she has been here, and the memories that flashed in my mind were not ones in pictures. Nursing her at 2 a.m. and watching her sleep on her daddy’s chest were only captured in my heart not on film, and those moments are the tender and true ones. So the lesson I learned is maybe instead of trying to snapshot every moment with Audrey, I should just live the moment with her and cherish the memories that are mine and mine alone.