Don't Go Through Life Looking Through a Viewfinder

Our children's lives are extremely well documented.  Between regular cameras, video cameras, and camera phones, we could film every moment in our children's lives.  But that doesn't mean we should. 

Yesterday we went to a pumpkin farm and there were tons of families there with young kids.  Along with the pumpkins there were carnival style rides and other things for kids to do. The parents (my husband and I included) would give their kids tickets for the rides and then go find the perfect spot to get a picture of their kids reaction to the ride. 

Digital cameras obviously give you the freedom to snap as many pictures as you want and then delete later or edit them at home to create the perfect shot, but that doesn't mean you have to shoot constantly.

I do a pretty good job of putting our pictures in photo albums and enjoy looking through them with the kids later, but even more than that I enjoy the actual moments.  After we were done with the rides I tried to restrain myself from taking more pictures, and it was hard.  I wanted to get the perfect shot of all three in the middle of all the pumpkins on the good camera for the album, but then I also wanted a cute shot that I could post on Facebook while we were still there. Trying to get all three to smile gets tough and everyone ends up grumpy.

With the holidays fast approaching, I encourage you to put the camera down and enjoy the moment and create memories.  I'll do my best too.