They say that later-born children have skinny photo albums. While parents lavish attention on the firstborn (making certain to record every milestone and in both print and pixels), later children are forgotten and neglected. So the common wisdom goes.
Maybe its true. There are certainly fewer posts on this blog about the younger boys than there were about the older ones. And there's no doubt about it: fewer photos are taken now-a-days. I don't even want to talk about videos. Poor neglected Leif. According to the records, he's hardly even a presence in this house.
Except that's not true.
The paucity of posts and pictures does not reflect an absence of affection. It does not speak to my feelings about living with children at all. I find them no less delightful and amazing than I did eight years ago when I first began my mothering journey. If anything, the little ones delight me even more now. I know better how to enjoy them.
And the best way to enjoy them is not from behind a computer screen.
Oh, I'll keep taking photos and writing little things here and there. I do still cherish the memories I've stored up that way. But when my heart is full of motherlove, I'm much more likely to reach for a cuddle than a camera. Because you can't smell a photograph.
What I'm trying to say is: I'm spending more time experiencing my little ones than recording about them these days. Perhaps that's a short-sighted choice. But today I want to own it.
Maybe its true. There are certainly fewer posts on this blog about the younger boys than there were about the older ones. And there's no doubt about it: fewer photos are taken now-a-days. I don't even want to talk about videos. Poor neglected Leif. According to the records, he's hardly even a presence in this house.
Except that's not true.
The paucity of posts and pictures does not reflect an absence of affection. It does not speak to my feelings about living with children at all. I find them no less delightful and amazing than I did eight years ago when I first began my mothering journey. If anything, the little ones delight me even more now. I know better how to enjoy them.
And the best way to enjoy them is not from behind a computer screen.
Oh, I'll keep taking photos and writing little things here and there. I do still cherish the memories I've stored up that way. But when my heart is full of motherlove, I'm much more likely to reach for a cuddle than a camera. Because you can't smell a photograph.
What I'm trying to say is: I'm spending more time experiencing my little ones than recording about them these days. Perhaps that's a short-sighted choice. But today I want to own it.
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