Shoes They aren't so little anymore. Can we talk real?

Like mom boss real life real stuff?

Every day I walk into my laundry room to feed our dogs.
Every day I trip over a pile of shoes that are just feet away from the basket I put there to catch them.
Every day I get frustrated, angry or even swear as I trip over the pile of shoes.

Until today.

Today I looked at that pile of shoes and realized that those shoes aren't the shoes of my little kids anymore. Those shoes belong to almost full grown young adults.
Today I realized that all these things that sometimes make me angry I will one day miss.
Today I realized that while I'm trying to kill this girl boss life my kids are growing up and they are pretty amazing kids.
Today I realized that I am pretty lucky to be their mom, even if I trip on their shoes.
Today I realized that it's been a long time since I've captured our family on camera.
Today I realized that a picture of shoes can make me reflect a whole bunch.

THEN I realized that I am doing this not only because I love being a photographer and meeting new people and creating perfect memories for them.
I am also doing it FOR my kids. I am doing it so I can be here to trip over their shoes in the morning instead of rushing out the door to a regular job.
I'm doing it so they can see what hard work and dedication can do.
I'm doing it so that they can see that if you put your heart into something and have a great family supporting you, you can accomplish great things.

Today I vowed to myself to take the time to capture more perfect memories for us too, because often I'm behind the camera or in the office editing for hours. SO here starts a little personal side project for myself. I want to capture the reality of my family again, its what sparked my love of photography years ago, and I want to go back to it. I won't share them all, but today the shoes got me and I know I'm not alone in this!

Hug your kids hard today because one day you'll be tripping over size 12 shoes instead of size 3 shoes.