Every day photographs and why they’re my favorite

I was walking down the hallway the other day in our home and walked by sweet Luke playing in his room so quietly. Now, if you know anything about Luke it’s 1) he is hardly EVER quiet unless he is getting into trouble or going poop and 2) he is not a fan of playing by himself. So when I saw him just sitting there quietly playing, it dawned on me that I should sneakily go and grab my phone (because let’s face it – who gets out their DSLR anymore nowadays – although I do love it still) and snap a photo of him.

So, back to ninja stealth mode I went and grabbed my phone and just sat in front of the kiddie gate by the door of his bedroom and watched him for a minute. He was putting the little coins into the cash register toy (doesn’t every kid have one of those?) and was talking to himself so sweetly. I think he was pointing at the little characters on the toy and having a nice little conversation with them. So stinkin’ adorable!

I got my phone out, positioned it as good as I could without being found out and snapped.

What I got as a result of that snap is not a photo that you’re going to see on the front page of some big time magazine or even a small time magazine for that matter. It’s not going to win any awards for composition. It’s not going to be one that I even purchase a canvas of, but what it IS is a photograph of an everyday moment. One that is so easily missed and one that so quickly passes.

This is the photo:

What YOU see when you look at the photo: a (super cute – ok, I just had to put that in there, LOL) kid playing in his room with a toy.

What I see when I look at the photo: My youngest little guy playing quietly in his room (which he hardly EVER does) with one of his favorite toys right now – the cash register. His little curls on his head are getting longer and he’s losing that “babyness” that he used to have. Sigh. He’s got his brother’s flip flops on which he loves and calls “ip flops.” He actually won’t take them off today and Jack isn’t happy about that. ;) I see his little Target diaper sticking out of his pants and while I’m ready for him to be done with diapers (and he’s doing pretty good in the potty training department), it’s still a bit bittersweet for me. I see a little glimpse of his room and the toys he has, which I know he’ll love to look back on one day. I see those dinosaur pajamas that he is wearing and smile because I’m reminded how every time I put them on him he shouts  “DINO!” and loves to point at them and talk to them.

I could probably go on a bit more, but you see – this every day photo isn’t spectacular in the “awesome photo” sense, but it is spectacular in the “I want to remember this” sense. I think that’s why my favorite kind of photos are those every day photos. The ones that we might glance over at first while scrolling through our camera roll on our phone or while looking at on our computer off of the memory card, but they’re the ones that hold so much if we just look closer. It’s those ordinary, quiet moments of reflection that we can see in them. Yep, that’s why they’re my favorite.

So, I encourage you to snap more of those every day photographs. You’re going to look back on them one day and be so thankful that in the midst of all of the “milestone” moments and professional family portraits that you had done (which I totally think you SHOULD take as well) that you took the time to snap and hold onto those sweet, precious memories that go by us so fast. A photograph is so powerful, especially those ordinary, every day moment kind of ones.