When did I Stop Taking Pictures?

Order senior pictures-check.

Reserve township hall-check.

Order invitations and mail-check.

Finish party menu and order food-check.

Make a memory book and posters of embarrassing pictures-wait…almost a check?

Sammy will be graduating on May 31^st and I am doing the usual Mom stuff of party planning and decorating. I have made a special memory book as a graduation gift for both of my boys with various pictures of them growing up. Sammy was looking through his book and said, “Why are there only pictures of me until I’m like, 12 years old?” Um. Well? That’s a good question.

            “Because that’s when we stopped taking pictures of you.” There. I said it. I actually didn’t stop taking pictures of him, or Robby for that matter. I just stopped using a camera. The invention of the camera phone has taken the place of my scrap booking hobby and the picture-taking of each and every moment along with it. I used to take pictures just because I had a great idea for a “layout.”

            “Oh! Let’s go to the playground! I have some really cute paper and stickers to go along with the pictures!”  Now I wonder if it’s really worth using up the phone memory before I capture that precious memory.

From the time I got a camera phone and shortly after that, a Facebook account, I have really taken a minimal amount of pictures other than the “Oh isn’t the cat cute?” random ones. At sporting events I have let the moms with the good cameras take the action shots that I pulled off of Facebook every now and then. I have a few pictures of our trip to Florida in 2012…on my phone, pictures of Robby’s graduation…on my phone, and things I’ve crocheted or, again, cute pictures of my cats, (also on my phone). When it was time to get pictures of Sammy pulled together for this album, there really weren’t many from the past 4 years. I don’t even print pictures anymore unless I absolutely need to. I email, Facebook, and text pictures if I want people to see them. Facebook is my new scrapbook. Look at pictures of my life and then scroll down and look at pictures of other people’s lives…and their dinners.

I remember when I got really heavy into my scrapbooking phase I panicked thinking that I would have to do it for the rest of my life, because I couldn’t just have these fabulous scrapbooks and then go back to the old fashioned pocket albums! I thought I had really gotten myself locked into something that would simply never end. Little did I know that with the invention of that wonderful thing called a camera phone, that my inventory of stickers, stamps, ribbons, and beautiful paper would collect dust in the basement. So get used to it boys. If you want to see anymore pictures of yourselves you’ll have to check my Facebook account under “Pictures of You.”