"But Mommy, where are you?"
This is a question my toddler recently asked me. We had gone on an "adventure" that day - I wanted to do some location scouting, and he wanted to go "exploring on an adventure" so it was a win-win for us. I got some pictures of him (of course) and I was excited to share them with my husband and family because any picture of little Leo is adorable. He was excited to see them too, but as we were looking through the pictures from our adventure he asked "But Mommy, where are you?" That question took me back a for a second, and I've been thinking about it a lot the last couple of days. As moms, we DON'T get in the picture very often. If you're like me, you have thousands of pictures on your phone or iCloud of your kids, but only a handful of them are of you actually WITH you child. That is, unless maybe your selfie game is strong, but let's be real - not many of those pictures are the ones you want to frame or keep forever.
So why don't we have more pictures with our kids? Maybe it is because we're too busy wrangling the children and keeping them alive. Maybe it's because your spouse isn't as aware as you are about pulling out his phone to capture those sweet candids as you would like. Maybe its because family photos are expensive and raising kids is expensive enough. Maybe it's because you don't like the way you look in pictures and you're waiting until you can get your hair done, or you lose those last ten pounds, or whatever the reason is. A truth it has taken me my whole life to realize is that our family doesn't love me because of how I look in pictures. They don't love me because of my effortless style coordination or my strong make-up game. They love me because of me. And I look back at my own mother, and how I still think she is the most beautiful, because she is my mom. It's hard to love yourself. Motherhood changes most of us in so many ways - mentally, emotionally, but the physical changes after carrying and raising a child are sometimes the hardest to accept. Your body is never again exactly what it once was (unless you're superhuman, in which case, good for you although we're incredibly jealous). Your clothes don't fit the same. You may be a little more soft around the middle. You have those constant "tired mom eyes." You may not be the picture perfect magazine cover, but I promise you Moms - YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! And your husband and children think so too! And one day, when they look back on family photos, they'll want to see you IN the picture with them, because as much as you forever freeze them at that stage and moment you take the photo, you're frozen in their minds too - and that's a beautiful thing to look back on together. So moms - get in the picture, because every picture of you with your kids is beautiful, no matter what you're wearing, no matter what your hair and makeup look like, no matter what your weight is. They are beautiful because they document the love between you and your children! Take the time to schedule some family photos - I PROMISE you won't regret it!
