Moms, Get in the Frame
Mama, I need to tell you something straight from the heart: you belong in the photo.
I know you’re always behind the camera, capturing your kids as they grow; first steps, toothless grins, birthday candles, all of it. You’re the memory keeper of your family, the one making sure their childhood is documented. But how often are you in the frame? How often will your children look back and see your smile, your arms wrapped around them, your love shining in your eyes?
Someday, your kids will look through these photos, maybe when they’re grown, maybe when they’re holding babies of their own, and when they do, they won’t care about whether you had makeup on or if your hair was messy from chasing them around all day. They won’t notice the extra pounds you think you need to lose or the tired eyes from staying up all night.
They’ll see you.
They’ll see the way you held them close, the way your eyes lit up when you looked at them, the way you showed up for them every single day. They’ll see their mom. Their safe place. Their home.
For years, I avoided being in photos. I was always too tired with bags under my eyes from being up with a baby all night, or too busy finishing icing the birthday cake to stand for a photo, or if I'm being totally honest; too self-conscious. Our bodies change so much when we become moms that sometimes it's hard to recognize ourselves. We land in some limbo of not really feeling like we fit anywhere. Suddenly we have this new body, that is beautiful and wonderful and gave life but also somehow still a little foreign. But then we also know we don't really belong in that pre-mom body either. That one that has never rocked a baby all night long or carried a crying toddler home from the park. I thought I was doing my kids a favour by staying behind the camera; focusing on them, not me.
But then it hit me one day: If something happened to me, what photos would they have to remember me by? Would they have pictures of us together? Or just pictures I had taken of them? That realization shook me.
From that moment, I stepped into the frame, messy hair, tired eyes, and all. Because one day, these photos will be all they have. And I want them to see me there, holding them, loving them, being their mom.
One day, your kids will treasure these photos in ways you can’t even imagine. They won’t see flaws; they’ll see love. They’ll see proof that you were there; really there. And they will thank you for it.
So please, mama, hand the camera over, to your partner, a friend or me, That's why I'm here. Let someone else capture you. Be in the photos, messy, imperfect, beautifully real; because your love, your presence, your spirit… it matters more than you know.
If you’ve been putting it off, I’d love to help capture these moments for you. Because the story keepers deserve to be remembered in the family’s story, just as much as everyone else.
With love and gratitude for all moms.
xo
Sara
