When Your Child Throws a Fit...

The other day I had a good friend visiting from out of town. It was great to see her and her 2-yr-old little boy. We had a nice visit and it was fun to catch up. Just as it was time for them to go, her 2-yr-old (who was obviously tired from the travel schedule) starting throwing a tantrum. Crying, throwing toys, backing away from his mom, etc... I place no judgement, I have children of my own, all moms have been there, but here's my question. What do you do when your child throws a fit? My friend just stood there and watched her child cry and cry, occasionally asking, "what's wrong?" At first, I figured, she knows her child, maybe this will pass quickly as soon as he gets it out of his system. But the crying went on and on for several minutes, with my friend just watching.

When my kids melt-down, my first instinct is to remove my child as quickly as possible so that others don't have to witness the scene. Or maybe it's because I don't want others to witness the scene. But she just calmly stood there and finally after about 10 minutes, they started making their way out the door. At this point, I was just as exhausted as the 2-yr-old. Once they got outside, everything was fine and they proceeded to get in the car and leave. Although it was great to see them, I'm embarrassed to say, that I was kind of glad to see them go. I still love them, and I'll be excited to see them again, but ending on the never-ending tantrum was kind of a downer. Kids will be kids, and I know that, but it got me thinking about the way I would handle the situation. What would you do?

Photoshopping

It seems that photography is all the rage these days. I love it. My friends love it. Strangers love it. It's a great hobby and a great skill. However, what I am learning, is that even though I have a fancy new SLR, half the skill is not in just taking pictures, but in the photoshopping.

So here's my internal debate. If you're editing and photoshopping your pictures every time, how great is the photography, really? Don't get me wrong, I think the photos look awesome after they've been edited, but if you smooth out every blemish, and tweak all the lighting, are you really capturing the moment? Part of the reason I love photographs is so I can capture the moment and the person or thing. I want to remember them just how they are in that moment. But if each photo is edited, I'll be remembering a false memory.

Before

After

What do you think? How much editing is too much? Obviously, magazines edit their covergirls to make beautiful covers. But we all know that. They're not real. I want to take real photos. However, I also realize that photography is an art form, so editing and tweaking enhances a photographers ability to be creative and artsy, and I'm all for that.

So, that's my internal conversation on photoshopping. I'm for it and against it. I'll admit, I find myself spending a lot of time playing around with my photos in photoshop. You can get great results. Just know, that I plan on leaving a few of those scrapes and bruises in place on my children's faces, so I can remember them exactly how they are!

Internal Conversations

Frequently, at night, I find myself having internal conversations with myself, preventing me from falling asleep. I don't so much mind the conversations, it's the fact that I'm exhausted and want to fall asleep, but am unwillingly preventing myself from doing so because my mind is racing. So in an attempt to solve this problem, I have decided to start a blog, releasing these internal conversations, in hopes that I will be able to fall asleep more easily at night.

This blog is not intended to offend, hurt, or cause frustration to anyone, it is merely a way for me to express the random thoughts that cross my mind. It will be PG rated, and hopefully thought provoking and interesting, mingled with nonsense and rambling. So feel free to agree, enlighten, share, challenge, or give an amen to what you read. (In a polite, non-offensive, non-profane manner of course. ) And if you don't like what you find here, simply move on to another blog that suits your fancy. I've learned I can't please everyone, but to those who are interested, you're welcome to the Soapbox...On My Mind.