Seven photos on the seventh of the month - a no pressure photo project with like-minded photo friends. No rules and no themes - just tell a story with some favourite photos from the previous month, and link to the next person in line!
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On Motherhood:
The end of the school year approaches. My daughter will be graduating middle school and launching into high school this fall. Like many mothers, I am often surprised at how the time has passed since my daughter entered my life - sometimes like a speeding train and sometimes as slow as a turtle. When she stands in front of me, her eyes are almost level with mine but the brain plays tricks and I frequently see her as the curly-headed toddler she once was.
For Mother's Day last month, one of the women I work with at my coworking space created a series of short poems commemorating mothers. Her company Truth To Paper, brings "depth and connection to the world, one poem at a time".
The poem in the center brought tears to my eyes when I first read it.
Since Mother's Day, I've somehow become more aware of time slipping away. When my daughter was a baby, toddler, and elementary schooler, we spent most of our hours together after school and daycare. We would come up with fun activities and I always had my little point-and-shoot to capture our little adventures. She is rapidly becoming more independent but I feel lucky that she still likes to hang with me occasionally, as she did recently at our Memorial Day Carnival where we both played photographer. (see my recent Viewfinders post for more...)
She is an avid dancer and I recently captured her dress rehearsals before her spring performance. She has increasing grace and poise and I am often taken aback when I see her from afar. It shouldn't be a surprise, she has taken dance for many years and is passionate about it. But at a recent audition, she was asked what she loves most about performing and her eloquent answer included how she loves storytelling and incorporating it into her performances. My visual storyteller's heart swelled with pride.
Outside of the daily grind of parenting, the yelling and impatience and "will you get a MOVE on", the delight in her victories, the trials of middle school and the emotions and heartache that this age brings, I am grateful for being reminded to be present in both the big and small moments. She delights me and frustrates me and breaks my heart and isn't that what motherhood is all about.
Onward.
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Please visit the lovely and talented Kris McNeil for her 7 on 7 post,
then click through to the next person in our blog roll (and so on...) to see what we've all been up to.