So some months ago I stumbled upon something called Aleida's Challenge - And immediately it had my attention...
As taken from the
Flickr website...
Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn't know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, "Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?" Of course my answer was no. She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child. Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children....double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all. I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida's Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month. And to post them here so that we can see Aleida's legacy unfolding.Some of you may or may not know
The Story of Me - but that one blog post contains what I have in pictures of me and my own mom. I take hundreds of thousands of pictures of our kids, literally - and am rarely, if ever, in any of those pictures. Every year I tell myself that I am going to get out from behind that camera and take more pictures WITH our kids, not just OF our kids...and every year, I find myself failing.
I'm too tired, too sloppy, too big, too _________ ~
So this blog here...this will be a gift to our children. No more excuses...
the pictures - oh, they won't be glamorous - I know that already. But they will be.
And to me, that is all that matters...
So beautiful children...I hope that one day you will treasure the pictures and know that you are loved more than I could ever possibly tell you.
All my love ~ Mommy
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