I would like to introduce my blog readers to my sister Michelle. I’ve mentioned her before, and you’ve probably seen her adorable children on here lots of times. Tim and I went with Michelle and her 3 cute little kids to take some family photos last month. I happen to love how they turned out, but I hear through the grapevine that she doesn’t like how she looks in them. This is where I pause and sigh. Seriously? She could not be any cuter, thinner, or more beautiful. I think she looks perfect.
Then I took my other sister Angela’s family photos and she said she hates how she looks in them. Again I thought to myself, these ladies are crazy! I could only dream of looking as good as they do. Then Tim took my picture with my kids and I wanted to delete every single one. All I could do was sit at my computer and pick apart all my flaws, and there were a lot of them. So, now I get it. It’s hard to look at pictures of yourself.
I have come to the conclusion that we as women are just way too hard on ourselves. In the family photos I take I only see the personality, love, happiness, and connection. The women in them see fly away hairs, lines around their eyes, extra chins, bulges that only they can see, or any number of things we can pick apart. I am here today to tell you all that your family photos are meant to be memories of what your family is like right now. Your children will never be the age they are again. Their voices, personality, and what they like and don’t like are going to change. While that’s not a negative thing I know as a mom I want to remember what they were like right now because sadly, I do forget.
I guarantee you will NEVER be younger than you are at this moment. You might get thinner or heavier, but most likely you are the only one that will notice. Your children aren’t going to look back at your photos and say, “Wow, mom sure had a lot of wrinkles when I was 4″ or “Mom gained 10 pounds when when I turned 12.”
Try to look past your flaws and embrace who you are. Relax, and don’t worry so much about how you look in front of the camera. Laugh, have fun, and be yourself, and I know that you will be able to look past your insecurities and see how amazing you are. Yes, I know that’s easier said than done. It’s something I need to work on myself. This year I’m going to make it a point to be in the photos more instead of behind the camera. I’m not going to delete every picture I’m in. Hopefully you will too.
Now, take a look at how amazing Michelle looks, and how cute her family is.
