Tagged: birthday, childhood, parenthood, photography
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
Posts from the “childhood” Category
I made a human.
Three actually.
By the grace of God and biology my body coddled and nurtured a human being, releasing it from my womb at the moment it could breathe air.
But my job was far from done.
Breathing alone wasn’t enough to sustain life.
Things like eating and burping and sleeping in the exact right quantities needed to be tended to. Each miraculous milestone followed by the anxiety of achieving the next.
After they learned how to not spit up their meal I needed to focus on things like reading and puberty and social dynamics and politics and being conscientious and being kind and being a good friend and not over-eating and under-sleeping.
All of these little life skills taught over and over again.
With the constant, age old hope that they will be decent human beings. That they will raise another generation of decent human beings.
I am flawed.
How can I not pass on my flaws to my children? As inevitable as the tide and the sunrise.
The best I can do is laugh with them, own my mistakes and ask for forgiveness.
Oh and love them, with all my human being-ness. 
Tagged: B&W photography, childhood, Mexico, motherhood, photography, Sayulita, travel
God bless Oliver, a boy with wit, silliness and sincerity. Observant and inquisitive, noticing all the details that make him thoughtful and make him worry.
Tagged: childhood, faith, family, first communion, photography
He’s been ordering off of the adult menu since he was nine, finding the kids menu too limiting for his refined palette. His tastes, humor and empathy are beyond his years. I often ask his opinion when I’m struggling with something at work. He leans into these discussions and no matter how complex my question he always manages to share something insightful.
Tagged: family photography, photography
Remember that time you blew out Oliver’s birthday candle? We had just finished singing “Happy Birthday” and before Oliver even knew what happened the candle was out. But I knew exactly what happened. With friends and family gathered around, with cameras rolling, this moment was documented forever. Look at Oliver’s and Penny’s faces, still waiting to blow out the candle that is no longer lit. But your face reveals your guilt. You were only five. Just a young child yourself. Unfair to ask you to be fair, unfair to ask you to be considerate of your baby brother, unfair to ask you to practice self-control. And look at my face, but worse, look at my hand. I have loved and hated this photo. I loved it for the honesty and realness of a mother in a moment of little patience with three children five and under and I have hated this photo because it captured me at my worst. Yet looking at this photo now as you turn twelve I have a different appreciation of this photo. Since the day you were born you carry our dreams and expectations. Your five was different than Penny’s five and Oliver’s five.
Tagged: birthday, childhood, family photography, Lucas, photography
Tagged: basketball, canon photography, photography
Second season of soccer. Spring season of first grade.
“Go to the ball, Oliver. Go for the goal!”
Not sure if he has a knack for soccer, a budding interest or like, or just a strong competitive drive.
Perhaps he is simply motivated by the pride of seeing me cheer him on from the sidelines.
Tagged: documentary photography, family photography, photography, soccer, sports
Originally focused on just girls, Take Our Daughters To Work Day was created in New York City in 1992 by the Ms. Foundation for Women with support from foundation founder Gloria Steinem, in response to research finding that young women’s loss of self-esteem was one of the reasons they were not doing well in schools and were making poor life choices. In 2003 the program was expanded to include boys although many companies that celebrated the day included boys from the beginning. Over the years the program has expanded to go beyond the average practice of “shadowing” an adult to exposing girls and boys to the value of education, helping them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life and providing them an opportunity to share how they envision the future.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary, the Take Our Sons and Daughters To Work Day theme was Service Force, Agents of Positive Change.
Our Everyday 