No More Excuses

I make a lot of excuses. It's one excuse after another. There really is no excuse though. Because my kids won't care about excuses. They won't care that my hair wasn't curled to perfection or that it was in a bun again straight out of the shower. They won't care that I was wearing exercise pants. Or that I wasn't wearing makeup to cover my childhood freckles. My kids will not care if the house behind me is a mess. They won't care that I was pregnant. They really won't care about any of those excuses if it means not having pictures of me. They won't care, because they will want pictures of me. Plain and simple. They will. And they deserve it.

I had an epiphany the other day. I was looking at the pictures I took last week of the kids wrestling with Joe and I loved seeing them all together. But I was missing from those pictures. I really do love looking back at all the pictures I take. It's wonderful to see how the kids once were and how they've changed. I love seeing the pictures of them crying and throwing a tantrum. Or pictures of them sleeping or cuddling with one another. I particularly love the pictures that include Joe and his interactions with the kids. Pictures, to me, are something priceless. I wouldn't trade the pictures I have of my family for anything in the world. Never. But, at the same time, by taking all the pictures, I can't be in them. Which is typically fine by me. But when I saw that picture of Joe laying on the floor and all our kids with him, it made me a little sad. Because I would have liked to have been in those pictures as well. And I think my kids will want to see me in pictures too. I know they will actually.

So I need to stop making excuses. My camera has a self timer. Gabs weighs almost enough to hold it up. I have mirrors. I can get over the fact that I won't look "picture perfect" all the time. Sure, the pictures will be a little more contrived and less spontaneous when I have to stop and grab the camera myself to get a picture of me in the picture, but my kids won't care about that either. They will be happy to have pictures of me, just as I am happy to have pictures of them.

It's time I stop making excuses and try to be in more pictures. I know my children will appreciate it.