It’s vital to include yourself in your family’s memories (Picture: Getty Images/Tetra images RF)
As a parent, it’s natural to want to capture your child’s special moments.
But, in a camera roll filled with snaps of your little one, how many pictures do you feature in?
According to therapist Josh Weed, it’s vital for parents to include themselves in family photos and videos, something he learned after his mother passed away due to early onset Alzheimer’s.
In a Twitter thread that’s garnered over 5,000 likes, he wrote: ‘When it comes to getting footage of your family on video as a parent, it’s way more important to record yourself than to record your kids.
‘I have tons of footage of me and my siblings growing up—hours of concerts, assemblies, sports and Christmas mornings.
‘And while that’s nice, I would absolutely kill for just one video of my mom that lasts more than three seconds and doesn’t involve her shooing the camera away.’
Josh believes his mum ‘likely just never even thought about’ staying out of the shots, but said he suspects ‘that somewhere deep down she didn’t view herself as important or significant enough to be on camera.’
‘That thought really haunts me,’ he added. ‘It rips me up.’
Many of us shy away from cameras due to low self-esteem, waiting until we look our best before agreeing to be in front of the lens – which often means the only time we’re captured is on special occasions.
‘But I promise your kids would rather see you on your worst most disheveled day just talking and laughing and being you,’ said Josh. ‘I promise you matter enough to record yourself. I promise you are enough just as you are.’
Your child likely won’t want to see their childhood sports games – they want their parent (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Feeling as if you’re responsible for immortalising precious memories of your child can also be a barrier to prioritising yourself, though it can be helpful to reframe taking pictures or videos of you as creating memories for them instead.
Josh explained: ‘Videos of you at every phase (not themselves) is the thing they will most cherish. It’s the thing they’ll crave to find when they miss you or want to hear your voice.
‘It is one of the main things they will yearn to go back to, come milestones or come tribulations, when they really need to see or hear their mommy or daddy — in those moments when no one else will do.’
Regardless of how camera-shy you may feel, ensuring you can be there for your child even when you’re gone is worth the momentary discomfort.
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Your children will cherish images of their parents for years to come.
