The dumpster-diving photo we reminded you to take in the last blog  is really important. Here’s why. My tiny children are already growing up … a tiny bit everyday! When I look back over my photos of Lauren and Cat, I get a bit misty for the past. They are SO cute, aren’t they? Look at the photo on the left. A.Dor.A.Ble. And I vividly remember when that picture was taken. Ooooooooh, yes indeedy. The dog had just pinned the mailman to my neighbor’s front door, we were late to church, and the camera had literally two shots left in it. Thank goodness I can recall this because .. and here is my point .. pictures lie. Like a sleeping dog, old photos paint a personal history that is warm and soft and easy. Lee Ann and I don’t know about you, but our our motherhood has been more like Dante’s inferno with a trip to the ice cream parlor every now and again. [Read more...]

Friends, let’s discuss. This really is one of the horrors of modern-day motherhood. We’ve felt guilty and we’ve been guilty and for what? Let’s look at some valid guilt scenarios, just for kicks.

Scenario 1: I once let my 4 month-old baby girl ‘cry it out’ in an attempt to ‘Ferberize’ her. She cried through her nap, about 2 hours. When I finally ‘caved in’ and got her, she was a sweaty, over-heated mess who looked like she’d been tossed in a dumpster. Yep, she’s 11 now. Probably explains why she is such an awful sleeper to this day. I never read another parenting book again. [Read more...]

There is picture of the two us beneath the Christmas tree, circa 1975, I am guessing. I am holding my sister’s hand, and we are wearing handmade blue and white gingham dresses. We are smiling adorably into the camera and guess what? The picture is a tiny bit blurry, especially by today’s standards. It’s the sort of picture that you might delete nowadays in an effort to edit your photo life into perfection. [Read more...]

Our childhood photo albums are this: battered black sheets in a state of acid-decay with faded photos and red leather-looking (okay, plastic) covers that cleverly say “album”. Doesn’t get much more inspirational than that! Sure, with their torn corners and often misplaced sticky tabs with engaging descriptors like, “Sara Jane, 1967” and “Lee Ann on her bike” these are albums that by today’s standards are worth the closet they are stored in. And it’s a very deep, dark closet!! Right Mom? [Read more...]

We started Tiny Reminders to help other moms like us because we feel your photo pain! As if we moms don’t have enough to feel guilty about while we second-guess our parenting skills, we actually are made to feel guilty about not having those hallmark moments with our kids’ photo books. You know the ads: the sunlight streams through the window creating a virtual halo over mother and child while they blissfully smile and turn page after page of PERFECTED photo album. We are pretty sure there is a steaming cup of tea someone in there, as well.
Fire extinguisher, anyone?
Life is messy! But with our tiny thoughts, you can begin to create and get to the point where that photo book is in your lap. [Read more...]