Mother’s Day
It’s almost here
Here we are, sitting at the tail end of February (can you believe that January and February are already almost behind us) and Mother’s Day is just around the corner. It’s one of my favorite holidays, to be totally honest. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think of my children, all grown and on their own, with lives of their own, every day of my life but this is the one day every year when I get particularly melancholy and sentimental.
I spend the first bit of my morning, just thinking about each one of them. I remember when I found out I was pregnant, my maternity period, their births, what they were like as newborns, babies, toddlers and beyond. I reflect and rejoice in who they are, today, as adults. I look through all of the old pictures, many of which are fading fast, and just fill my heart with all three of them.
A legacy
Those cherished photos of my children growing up still grace my walls to this day, in addition to the boxes and albums that I have. Since day one, photos of my children were a priority to me. I didn’t really have that luxury, of my own childhood. In fact, not only is there not one professional photo of my own childhood family in existence, there are hardly any snapshots, either. Of the photos that do exist, 90% are of just my sisters and I playing in the yard, or whatever, and the other 10% are of my mother and one, two or all three of us kids. My dad was not in them. He was always the one taking the photos. Compounding the issue was that he never liked being photographed. My dad, like most people, didn’t understand my own philosophy: “You’ve never taken a bad photo…your photographer has”. In fact, pretty much the only photo that I have of him, as an adult, he was in his mid-70s and in a nursing home. He died just three weeks after I took that photo. I can’t begin to tell you how I lament not having those photos. I hear it a lot, actually. “We wanted to create a wall of photos for the funeral, but no one had any”. That is just about the saddest statement, ever.
Photo celebrations
While you don’t have to get family photos every month, holidays are a great time to get them and a lovely tradition to start and keep going. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are two great annual photo opportunities. The “Mommy and Me” photos are one of my favorite. While, as far as preparation, you really don’t have to do anything more than show up to your session, you can make them extra special by getting matching outfits. Many outfitters sell outfits ready to go. One of my favorites is Joy Folie (and I don’t get any sort of kickbacks from them, nor am I affiliated in any way, whatsoever). They have a Mommy & Me section right here, to make it really simple. Right now, they are even offering a 50% discount (expires soon). You can get matching outfits in a variety of places and styles. Second-hand options from sites like eBay, are a great place to find deals, and often at a fraction of the price of new. Just search “mommy and me dress” or “mother daughter dress” to get started.
More Ideas
A great resource for inspiration is Pinterest. Yes, it’s kind of a “black hole”, where you go in for one single thing, and then emerge hours later without having any concept of the hours that just passed by. HERE is a simple search I did for “Mommy and Me Photos”. You can do several different wording option searches but you might want to wrap your head with duct tape first because you will come up with so much inspiration that your head might just explode.
Right now
Anyway, with Mother’s Day right just a few short weeks away, now is the time to start thinking about legacy photos of your children or grandchildren. I will be offering my own “Mommy and Me” mini sessions, in both fine art and traditional. Call me, today, at (239) 313-1477 or send a message, to reserve your spot, as this special sessions is being offered on only one day, April 17. Due to Covid precautions, only 10 slots will be made available, allowing plenty of time to sanitize and disinfect after each client. I will be opening up the schedule, to reserve session times, in two weeks, so keep an eye out!
The photo below was an impromptu and completely unplanned thing that I came up with after we finished their sessions, one a modeling session and the other a lifestyle/branding session for her massage services in her new business (I’m so proud). I actually cried when I saw it, and then spent a good deal of time looking at it, over the next several days after I finished editing (what can I say, I’m a sentimental and sappy mom who loves her children).
