Through the Camera Lens

When my kids draw a picture of me in the future, I don't want it to be with a phone in my hand--- a recent thought I had. I am trying to experience the life in front of me instead of the lives of others via the internet. --- I'm also working on enjoying the moment through my eyes instead of through the camera lens. Sure, I want to have pictures to remember my kids and our family by, but sometimes I feel like I'm missing the best moments by trying to get a good shot instead of experiencing everything firsthand. On Saturday, for instance, Zeke and I played outside in the snow for 45 minutes. I watched the snow fall, pulled him around on the tube, shoveled snow, attempted to make a fort, showed him how to lick the snow and picked him up when he face planted as he tried. We laughed and played and I tried to capture the moment in my mind to store away as a precious memory. No, I don't have a picture to share with everyone of this moment with my 2 year old, but today he felt all of my attention. He got to look his Momma in the eyes instead of staring at her yellow phone while begging him to force another smile. He got to follow me around in the snow instead of waiting for me to play while I uploaded his picture to Instagram. Today the two of us shared a memory, just for us. Without distraction. Without 9 "likes" on Facebook. Here's to many more technology-free, fully-experiencing-the-moment, memories!