Today’s post is not really a Photo Friday one, but it does have to do with photos. I mentioned yesterday that I am using part of our family vacation to work on a home project. The project is to organize our family photos. I am completely overwhelmed at the task. The last photo album I worked on was fifteen years ago when Old Boy was a baby.

When my mother passed away years ago I remember my sisters and I looking for our family photos. When we found them there were hundreds of pictures in various boxes. Very few albums were found. Our family had only had a few professional photos done. I was disappointed to not have an album dedicated to me. I am one of five children and a my mother was a single parent. I doubt she had much time or interest in creating a photo album for each of her kids.

When we sorted out the photos I was sad to see my little pile of photos. My oldest sister had the most photos. She was the first child and they wanted to capture her every movement. By the time they got to me, the fourth child, my parents were too tired to take photos. The only person who had less photos in their pile was my younger sister. Seeing my small photo pile and not in a nice album I decided to not let that happen when I had children.

Flash forward eighteen years from my mother’s death and I have the similar pile of photos in a box and very few albums. I will give myself a little credit to say I have tons of photos for each of my boys. So many photos that I have no idea where to begin with regards to organizing them. Box after box filled with mixed photos of the boys, friends, family, travels, and pets. As a matter of fact the huge mess of photo sits behind me as I type waiting for someone to organize them. Sigh.

I am not a crafty gal. I love the idea of scrapbooks and even went to a scrapbook party once, but I don’t like doing that kind of thing. It’s not fun for me. It seems like work…kind of like cooking. I remember one friend of mine who starting working on her first child’s baby book the first week she came home from the hospital. I was stunned.   I felt bad knowing my child (three years older) did not even have a book started yet.  I did create a baby book for Old Boy, but sadly Tall Boy and Little Boy do not have one. By now I have forgotten all the dates for their milestones (walking, talking, eating). I guess I will have to make some dates up.

Scrapbooks are the kind of thing good mothers do. Each time I look at the pile it reminds me of my failings. Yes, it’s a silly and overly dramatic thing to say, but it’s true. My mother was a loving mother and I don’t think less of her because of the lack of albums, but I guess I expect more from me. She was a single mom and well, I’m not.  By the way, I know I am a good mother, but if I can get a grip on the photos before Old Boy heads out to college I will be an even better mother! (Big Smile)

I asked my husband to help me out with the project, but apparently putting together the new Foosball table for the boys is more important. Ah well. Better get started…this could take a while.

Like my mother used to say, “You can only eat an elephant one bit at a time.”  I just had no idea how tough elephant skin was to chew.