Dear Mom,
I see you. I see you hovering over laundry, the sink full of dishes, and your tired eyes from staying up with a crying baby every night, resorting to contacting a sleep consultant. I see you heading into board meetings and driving the carpool, and boarding the flights for business trips. I see you potty training tiny toddlers and snuggling teeny babies into Ergo carriers or slings. I can see you planning your next vacation, and trying to pay the bills, and cheering on your littles on the sidelines. I see you trying to reconcile the person you once were, with the woman you are now, and the woman you’re becoming. I see you still in love with your spouse or partner, or going it on your own and being both mom and dad to your family. I see all of this, and I understand.
I also see you when you call me for family portraits. I see the way you tug down the dress just so, so it covers up your post-partum tummy, or the subtle shift so your body can hide a little bit behind your little ones. I see you trying to tame the stray hairs and carefully cover up any grey ones that escaped the highlights. I see you straightening dresses on your babies, or wondering if your family’s outfits all go together after months of shopping. I see you after losing the weight or working out for months, proud of the body you’ve created. I see you wishing you had worked out a little more. I see you wondering if anyone will judge you for being older with tiny babes, or if someone will judge you for being young with several babies. I see all of this, and I want you to know something.
Mom, you matter. And in the years to come, the things your children will treasure are your smile and your presence in these images. They will not remember if you lost weight or gained it or if you have killer abs or tummy flab. They will remember the way you snuggled them to sleep, the stories you read, the homework you checked, and the cookies you baked (or snagged at the store on the way to the bake sale). I see many moms who cringe at the idea of getting in front of a camera, but I really, really want you to know that family portraits matter, and YOU being in them matters even more. The message we send to our kids about the way we look or the way we feel leaves memories in them for a lifetime. It can shape the way our daughters view beauty and the way our sons cherish it. So please get in front of the camera. Don’t hide, don’t shirk away from being front and center. You are the center of your family, in your magical, beautiful role. And your kids? Trust me, you are the most beautiful, kindest person in their world. If things get really bad though, as I know (from personal experience) it can be so tough being a mom and feeling glamorous again, but it is possible to have the best of both worlds. Whether you want to get your body back to its originally state naturally, or you decided to look for help from places like Mommy Makeover in Bryn Mawr, PA to help get you feeling your best, you need to do what makes YOU happy at the end of the day. Once you start feeling good about yourself, you will be willing to jump straight back in front of the camera with your beautiful family.
Let’s get you and your sweet tribe in front of the camera. They just want to see their mom, and you might just be surprised by how beautiful, heirloom portraits make you feel more confident, too.
Love, your photographer