Getting Real with Kira Hazledine
I really like to capture pictures of my daughter and all the precious moments with her dad. I also like to take a few family selfies when we are out and about, to try and seal those memories into something that my daughter can look back on later. What wouldn’t happen, if it weren’t for my own diligent mother, are pics of me and my daughter. For those that don’t have a camera person at the ready, you need to go out of your way to ask someone else to take some pictures.
I did not realize how precious the pictures I took of my daughter, even just one year ago, would be to me now. I had no idea how grateful I would be to scan through pictures of my pregnancy with her and have them to compare to my second pregnancy now. The problem is, I’m so focused on pictures of her that I fail to realize the importance of pictures of me.
If all goes as it should in the process of linear time, my daughter Hallie, will know a world without me in it. Not fun to think about, but it is what it is. What I hadn’t considered until recently is how she would remember me. I am filling her little life full of amazing memories, but she will never be able to recall every one of them. Unless, of course, she has pictures. Pictures are a keepsake of amazing memories, and I don’t need to document everything, but I want to be a part of what is there.
I want my children to have a million pictures of me, and I want them to be real. I don’t want the posed family portraits that we paid too much money for. I don’t want the matching outfits at Christmas holidays, because aren’t those fresh in our minds for the most part? I want the lazy days with pajamas and paint everywhere from a home project. I want the unbrushed hair and my diaper-clad toddler. I want the swim suit at the beach showing off my stretch marks. I want the reality of my daily life with my kids for them to remember me by.
Am I at my best? Absolutely not. The picture you see above is not flattering at all. I make a scrunched-up face when I’m laughing that I’m not excited about but look at the joy on both our faces. There is no make-up, there’s no posing, and no prep. Just my reality with my baby girl. That is what I want Hallie to remember when there is nothing but pictures to remember me by. So, please, be in the pictures. Forget if you have a bra on or if it’s a flattering angle.
I know that when my own parents are no longer with me, I will treasure every picture. I don’t care what they look like. I just want to remember. And I want the same for my kids, to be remembered exactly as I am. If that happens to be a hot mess, then so be it. Because at the end of the day, my kids are loved and that’s what those pictures will show.
Yes, take all the pictures. But don’t forget to be in them, because you don’t realize now the weight those pictures will someday hold.
