Three Reasons Why You Should Ask Your Kids Take Your Picture

Go ahead, pass them the camera.

Start ‘em young! Here is four-year-old Oliver during our Spring Break trip to Joshua Tree last year.

While scanning Twitter the other day, I happened upon a tweet by Meaghan O’Connell, features editor at the parenting website Romper. “I feel like this mom group discovered a new genre,” she wrote, along with a link to a story with the headline, “The Weird Beauty of the Photos Our Kids Take of Us.”

Meaghan O'Connell @meaghano

I feel like this mom group discovered a new genre:

romper.comThe Weird Beauty Of The Photos Our Kids Take Of UsThese unflattering portraits do what kids do best: they wholeheartedly engage with the present moment.

Hey! I thought, with a smile. My moms’ group does that! I clicked the link and immediately recognized the byline along with the accompanying array of pictures. Wait a second, I thought. This is my moms’ group!

The story, by

Kira Cook

, was inspired by a post about six months into COVID. Someone in our (truly fantastic) moms’ group shared what Cook calls a “laughably unflattering” photo of herself taken by her child. Dozens of others did the same, resulting in an epic thread of blurry, off-center, odd-angle shots. The collection served as a momentary respite from the stress of the pandemic — and came to stand for something more. From Cook’s Romper piece:

“As unbecoming as they may be, the portrait a child takes might be the most frank visual diary of contemporary parenthood that can be found on one’s bloated camera roll. They are technicolor tributes to what it felt like to be in these homebound moments together, featuring us as we are, with a lot of chins, a lot of cellulite, a lot of messy hair. The photos do what kids do best: they wholeheartedly engage with the present moment.”

I love that sentiment! I would just add my a bit of a “Yes, and” here. Because YES, a lot of photos kids take — especially those that are unintentional or unanticipated — can be from angles (or of body parts) we might not choose. AND not every photo they take will make you cringe. Some of my favorite pictures of me and Matt have been snapped by our trio of little ones. 

So for all the reasons Cook states, and because of my own love of this very specific genre, I will go so far as to say I think we should volunteer ourselves for this kind of documentation. Hand our phones over to our kids and encourage it even!

It’s the perfect time of year to give it a try, with spring break upon us and summer travel around the corner. Need more convincing? Here are three reasons why:

And one of the shots (I think Oliver took this!) our kids took of us during Spring Break. I love it so much!

1. It puts you in the shot

Scan through your camera roll or think back to holidays, birthdays, or family trips. How many pictures do you have of your kids? Now, how many of those photos are YOU in? I’d hazard to say it’s probably… a fraction of them? Which is fine! I get that. But also, as someone who has lost her mother (and therefore lost the opportunity for more pictures of her), I can say from experience your children will likely come to treasure the photos they have of you. So even if you don’t want the picture for yourself, do it for your kids.

2. Your kids will love being asked

Here’s a parenting pro-tip: My kids are much — and I mean much — more likely to cooperate with a picture I want to take if I say they can take a photo, too. They will stand still and smile in anticipation, and then get to be the one calling the shots (quite literally!). My three find it so empowering to hold the phone or camera, and I mean it when I say I love that for them.

Another suggestion: If you’ve got more than one kid, ask the child not taking the picture to either join you in the shot or stand behind the camera and make you laugh. Then trade places!

3. Their perspective is priceless

Every picture my kids take is a window into their world, even the ones I might deem “unflattering” (although I have very mixed feelings on that word these days, but that’s a separate newsletter). Their lower-to-the-ground vantage point, the slight blur to some of the shots, the typically-askew framing are all a reminder of how they see and experience life. I find it so special.

And there is nothing better than the smiles they elicit. The way they can make both Matt and I laugh? THE BEST. I also tend to ham it up or crouch down to get on their level when they point the camera my way, which usually means they start giggling, too. It’s such a win.

eholmes

A post shared by Elizabeth Holmes (@eholmes)

But mostly: In this age of digital photos, play a game of quantity. More is better here. Ask your child (or children) to take several shots….and then check to make sure they actually took them! More than once our kids have said they took a picture when they did not. 🙃 I’d rather delete the extras than miss out on the moment!

Below is an assortment of unedited shots taken by my children. I hope it inspires you to share your own! I’d love to see them. Please post to Instagram and tag me (@EHolmes) in it or send it to me via email at Hello@SoManyThoughts.com.

ICYMI: I did an Ask Me (Almost) Anything for paid subscribers that you can read here. Thank you to everyone who asked questions about finding your personal style, our infertility journey, how Matt and I balance careers + parenting, and so much more. 💗

And don’t forget to check out my recommendations over at One Quick Thought! This week’s posts include an unexpected visit by the Second Gentleman, my key to keeping germs away, and a plea for pillow advice (the comments are excellent!).