Guess How Much I Love You?

Spring Break - Day 1

So it's Day #1 of Spring Break for my kids.  When planning and thinking about the upcoming time with the kids, I had visions of picnics, walks through the nature center, bike rides, and bar-b-ques.  Because of my  work-a-holic status for the last week or so (see previous post), I felt that THIS week was going to be my mommy redemption time....the time when I would no longer be shunned by the flawless mothers who have their children at the park 3 times a week before taking them home to feed them chicken and broccoli while mine are hurriedly shoving the last Girl Scout Thin Mint in their mouth in preparation for their next battle on Halo 3.  Last weekend I had my mental 'pre-game pep rally' where I convinced myself that 168 hours straight with my kiddos is going to be AWESOME!  Plenty of quality time with my kids, laugher, eating our healthy fruits and vegetables, butterflies and rainbows, and possibly even a unicorn or two.

It was a pipe dream. I woke up this morning with 4 text alerts on my phone that we were under a "Winter Weather Advisory" the high for the day is suppose to be 34 degrees....snow tonight.  Put away the apples, time to pull the Thin Mints back out.

I decided to have a Monday Morning Meeting with the kids since my game plan was now null and void.  After 5 minutes of trying to gather them up, the meeting went something like this:

Me:  Letting out a deep sigh of disappointment, "So guys, it's really cold outside what do you want to do today?"
(long pause of silence)
Kid #1: "NERF GUNS!!!!!!!"  he screamed as he got up and ran out of the room waiving his hands in the air.
I watched him leave with no energy to do anything about it.
(Another long pause)
I took a drink of my tea and looked down at my daughter who was blankly staring at me.
Me:  "Sweetie, what would you like to do today."
Kid #2:  "NOT nerf guns, he always shoots me in the face and it HURTS.  I'm worried that he might get me blinded and then I can't dance ever, EVER AGAIN" she said as she flings her hands down on the grounds and forces tears to fill her eyes (so my daughter MAY have a flare for the dramatic...I refrain from correcting her grammatical errors.)
Kid #1 screams from across the house:  "I do not SHOOT YOU IN THE EYES!"
Kid #2 screams back:  "Uh HUH!!!  Remember, you shot me in the FACE last week when I was on the stairs???"
Kid #1:  "Well....yeah.  I shot you in the face....but you said EYES.  I didn't shoot you in the EYES!!!"

It was at this point I had already made my way to the kitchen and shoved a second Thin Mint in my mouth.  So much for Monday Morning Meeting.

I sat down at the computer to go through my email and noticed our library books were overdue.  The LIBRARY!!  Thankfully my kids LOVE the library.  We began to go through our shelves and shelves of books to try and find the overdue ones to take back when we came across their favorite..."Guess How Much I Love You".  It had been a long time since we had read through that book.  My first grader opened it up and began reading in her slow, monotone first grade reading voice "I....love.....you....as.....ha...ha....hard?"

"High" I replied.

"high....as...I...can.....hop!" she said proudly.  She read the whole book.

I fought back the tears.  I had read that book to my kids when they were just months old and now they could read it on their own.  As always, when I have a "Mommy Moment" like that, I have to scrapbook it. (Yes, I just used "scrapbook" as a verb).  Besides.....reading "Guess How Much I Love You" to my children and scrapbooking it MIGHT get me back into the good graces of the flawless playground mommies.....(might).

Don't forget that YOU are part of the story in your kids lives.  Lots of parents have tons of photos of their kids in their scrapbook, but not many photos of them WITH their kids.  Even the cheap cameras have timers that you can set and then run into the photograph.  Tripods are inexpensive but you can also use anything that is stable and the right height (for this photo the camera was sitting on a dresser with a bunch of overdue library books stacked underneath).

For a photograph challenge, try to think of an activity that you can do with you kids and utilize you camera timer to get in the photograph with them!!

Photo Tips for Toddler Photographs

A GREAT scrapbook page always starts with an AMAZING photo.  But sometimes when you are chasing around a two-year old with a pudding pop melting down his arms, the last thing on your mind is lighting and framing.  All parents know that a photo session with a toddler, whether candid or not, has an EXTREMELY small window of opportunity.  You are only seconds away from a tantrum, a knee scrape, complete boredom, a distraction, or that bully 3 year old on the playground that acts like the lava-hot slide is HER turf.  In other words, you need to move FAST!

GET DOWN

The world looks different from your toddler’s angle and so does your toddler.    Get down on their level to capture those big eyes and adorable faces.  Sometimes this means grass stains on your new “Lucky” jeans, but if you haven’t already learned, being a parent is about sacrifice.

GET CLOSE

I know, I know.  First I ask you to get on the ground and then I ask you to get close?  Chasing a toddler while running on your feet is one thing.  Chasing them around on your knees could be an Olympic event.  But don’t forget you have a handy dandy zoom button.  It is a parent’s salvation for getting awesome close up shots.  All too often I see parents doing the “photo dance” (completely different from the “pee pee dance” but looks similar) trying to get the perfect distance between them and their child.  Unless the background has some sort of significance, fill the photo with your child.

GET OUTSIDE

The best flash in the world cannot compare to indirect lighting from the great outdoors.  I know of some great photographers who shutter (get it) at the idea of using a flash and will ONLY use natural lighting.  Partly cloudy or overcast days are the best (which is good news for the citizens of Seattle) because you avoid the harsh shadows and color washes from the sun.

GET CREATIVE

Kid photos are the most fun when kids get to do what they do best……..be kids.  They do not have to sit pretty, smile, and look at the camera for every single shot.  Let them play, explore, and have fun.  Their emotions will shine through into the photograph.