Snapped Ps: February 2011

Sue asked us whether or not our photographs accurately reflect what our life is like (or something like that, I'm too lazy to go back and look at the exact question). It's hard to say for sure. Part of my interest in this project was to "document", for lack of a better word, this year at home, with all the big changes that were happening. The truth is the photos don't necessarily reflect the day-to-day.

I don't, for instance, have a photo of me on Monday carrying all three of my children at once (two in slings, one on my back) up the street from the streetcar stop because the Toronto Transit Commission is all but inaccessible with a stroller (and I'm lucky, I can't even imagine what it must be like with a wheelchair or other accessibility device), and my just-six year-old was in a mild state of shock after her vaccination. In fact, I have very few photos of me carrying any of my children, even though it's how I spend about 90% of time.

I don't have a photo at all from the day when I had a complete breakdown, shortly after a friend gently reminded me that I don't have to do *everything* and shortly before another friend called me to do labour support at the birth of her child. That's #191. And in the spirit of Sue's question, I'm not posting a replacement.

The truth is, the moments which are most indicative of my life this year are the moments when I am least able (or willing) to pick up a camera. It's just as difficult to capture the joy I feel in hearing Joe sing a totally inappropriate song to babies over the baby monitor. Or the laughter shared when we discovered that big sister shouting letters of the alphabet elicited giggles from six month-old infants. Or a quiet moment where Joe and I promised that we would find the time to be friends, lovers and co-conspirators again, rather than just partners in the business of child-wrangling.

But it's all there, in a way.