Today we took a trip to a local pumpkin patch, and I followed my daughters as they ran here and there excitedly. At several stops I paused in my pursual, pulling out my camera phone, and recording our day.
Click.
That’s a perfect shot.
Like any good day it eventually came to an end. The park was closing, and I gathered my girls and their cousin for a picture with their pretty little pumpkins. As they sat on a bench, pumpkins placed in the middle, they complained about the sun. I snapped quickly, and found myself laughing as I looked at the scene on my screen’s display.
It certainly wasn’t picture perfect, and I could imagine no Instagram filter that could enhance this particular shot. I realized that it reminded me of many of the faded photos in albums from my childhood, a simpler time before pocket cameras were within easy reach.
And it was true. When I was a child my mom didn’t photograph every single day, and if she did happen to have a chunky camera on hand she took one single snap, and hoped for the best. It was great.
Nowadays we take a dozen different angles of the same scene, scrutinizing every take for the one most complimentary, and then applying programs to further enhance lighting and such. We strive to capture beautiful memories of lovely days, and it’s almost a practice in forgery.
After all, parenting isn’t pretty. Not really. No matter what filter you apply.
You can dress your children in the finest frocks local boutiques supply, but at the end of the day they’re covered with the same boogers and food stains as every other child. You can dress it up all you want, but at the end of the day we’re all a mess. Cause parenting isn’t pretty.
It certainly isn’t pretty when potty-training fails, toddlers throw tantrums, or pre-teens give you the evil eye. It’s not at all lovely when you’re sleep deprived, covered in spit-up, or suffering from postpartum depression. It’s all worth it and what-not, but that certainly doesn’t mean you want to put it in a picture album for all times.
Parenting isn’t pretty on the days you lose your cool, lose the keys, or even lose your marbles. Sometimes it’s downright ugly, especially when you lose your patience.
And what’s worse is the world we live in currently where only pretty pictures of parenting are published or posted for the world to see. We look longingly at everyone’s lovely lives and wonder why we’re the only one failing. We seem to be the only one with stains on shirts, scrunched up eyes, and screwy smiles on our camera roll.
Parenting isn’t pretty, and that’s pretty much the truth. It’s rewarding and wonderful, but it’s also messy and mind-blowing. It’s great and good, but it’s also difficult and demanding. It’s periods of perfection, followed by instances of insanity, all crammed into one package.
In fact, the only really pretty thing is the God-given grace to wake up anew to tackle triumphantly another tumultuous day. It’s the peace from above that despite where you fall short, that in essence you were made for this thing. Even when it’s ugly; which is a lot of the time.
Parenting isn’t pretty, but it’s still pretty perfect of a fit for those of us who dive in head first day after day, taking pictures, taking punches, and taking each moment as it comes.
So parenting isn’t pretty, but it’s still my favorite thing. Even when the pictures may prove otherwise.