Tips from the Trenches: A Guide to Practical Parenting

For a long time it's really bothered me that I'm never in any of the family photos. I have to make sure that I ask for my photo to be taken to document that I was present, but that's about it. One photo of me at the Great Wall of China, one photo of me in Saipan with the kids, one photo of me holding my newborn babies. If I don't ask, I don't even get that one photo.

I think this is a fairly typical "Mommy Syndrome" really, but it still bothers me. My kids won't be cute forever. I can't possibly be beautiful and loving forever. So, what gives?

Then I realized, it is because I was there. In a weird way my absence is a symbol of how much I get to see. I get to see Jack climbing the Great Wall and Emma's first trip to the beach. I get to be present at the birthdays and the preschool graduations. I get to live it, for better or worse. While it's nice to have the photos, I wouldn't trade them for getting to be there. Not for a minute.

Lucky me!