Traditions
Time really does pass by so fast. I find myself saying that more and more at the start of each school year. I don’t mean to be sappy and cliché but this is where I am these days. My oldest is about to turn 12.
12!
One of my friends pointed out that we’re almost done with them, meaning our kids. They’re closer to being out on their own now. Closer to being adults. Yeah, that was not a very helpful thing to say to me. As much as I look forward to having competent adult kids, when you have a kid with special needs, there are some bigger fears that go along with the usual things that we fear for our kids. But that’s for another time and place…
Time truly seems to speed up and my theory is because there are no more naps. Yep, once those kids stop napping, your day becomes filled with all kinds of activities and the next thing you know, it’s another year that’s gone. So I’m thinking of reinstating nap-times in this house. Anyone with me?!
Why all this talk about time? Because I believe strongly that my camera freezes time. With my camera, I can stop time for the briefest second. I can capture a moment to keep and remember. That’s my super power. 🙂
The fab 4 – no, not The Beatles
Back in July, we had some special visitors to our house. Our kids have been friends since they were 4 years old. But this isn’t an easy friendship to maintain. You see, they live in Canada. In the far-away almost western part of Canada (meaning not just up above Lake Erie) and so we only get to see them every few years. As the kids grow older, I keep thinking that they won’t want to make the time to get together. They’ll grow apart because often, that’s what happens with friendships. And yet, every visit the friendship continues right where they left off. It’s so bittersweet but I wouldn’t trade our friendship for the world. With friendships being a challenge for my son, I just love that the stress and awkwardness isn’t there with these boys. He jumps in and plays and the four of them have so much fun.
And because we only connect every so often, we’ve established some of our own traditions. One big tradition we have is a group photo with the kids.
If you happen to be a friend of mine on Facebook, you may have seen this series.
The top image was from 2009. That was the year the friendship begin. While my husband and I have been friends with their parents since college, this was the year that they met and spent several months developing this connection. The middle was from 2011. The bottom was from 2016. My two kids (the girl and boy on the far right). My friend’s two boys between mine.
And of course, with this recent visit, we had to repeat the photo.
I love these photos! I love seeing them transforming from rough and tumble monkeys into these bigger kids, almost teenagers. But most of all, I love that it shows their friendship. Surprisingly, they don’t fight us to take this picture. They know this is what we do together and I’m hoping that someday, they’ll treasure these images just as much as their friendship.
And we do include the littlest brother who joined the crew back in 2013. He’s 4 years old and just as much a part of the group as the older ones.
So my advice, make traditions like this part of your get-togethers. Don’t be afraid to pull out a camera and have the kids pose. Capture your friendships and capture their friendships because you’re also recording history.