I Don't Mind This Distraction

I take lots of pictures throughout the day with my camera and phone. The kids. DIY Dog Mom Project tutorials. The kids. Homemade dog biscuits. The kids. Food porn. Once the photos are uploaded, I distribute them to their rightful places. Some are posted on Facebook. Others I use for the blogs. A few I share on Twitter and Pinterest. And, a big handful are sent to Lisa when she's at work.

I load her up with photo text messages to view when she's on break. This is my way of sharing the many moments she misses throughout the day while at work or running errands.

She misses quite a bit.

At one time, I'd fill her in when she called at lunch. Too often, she'd say, "I can't believe I missed that. Hopefully it'll happen again so I can see it."

That was the response when I told her about something cute the kids did. There was always a bit of sadness in her voice.

After a while, the proverbial light bulb went off in my head. Why not try and capture these moments as they happen throughout the morning and afternoon?

I made a conscience effort to have my phone or camera within arm's reach. I'd snap photos while sitting at my desk or the kitchen table, baking biscuits, doing housework, prepping meals, and enjoying playtime with the kids.

I started capturing a lot of those moments. Most of the time I send the photos via text with a caption. On occasion, if there's a short story to go with the photo, I'll send her a quick email.

Lisa loves and thoroughly enjoys the photos. I no longer hear, "I wish I could have been there to see that." Instead, she talks about the photos I've sent and has a good chuckle over some of them.

I'm not longer detecting any sadness in her voice because she's feeling as if she's missing out.

I'll admit, taking these photos is often a huge distraction. If I'm working on a blog column and a photo worthy moment presents itself, I stop what I'm doing, take photos, and send them to Lisa. This happens multiple times a day.

However.

I don't mind this distraction. Lisa loves and adores our kids. She spends as much time as she can with them after getting home from work and on the weekends.

This is my way of filling in the gaps when she's not home. It's my way of making her a part of those hours I'm home alone with the kids.

I don't want her missing out on anything. And, if that distracts me or takes me away from what I'm doing for a few minutes, so be it.

It's worth every second.