The Magic of the Mundane

I could easily understand that if anyone happens to read some of my blog posts and doesn’t have children, that they’d read along and wonder why on earth anyone would want to have them. We complain constantly about the hard parts; the sleepless nights, the exhaustion, the seemingly illogical meltdowns leaving us in constant states of confusion and bewilderment. The way having children turns your world and your life completely on it’s head. These last few weeks in particular have been fairly challenging, the boys catching all the creche viruses, passing them onto us and trying to balance it all with work as well…. yes, it is hard.

But……it’s also completely amazing. Not just for the obvious reasons of when they put their little arms around your neck and snuggle into you like you’re their hero, or when they do or say something heart melting. But for the purely simple and honest, I’d almost say mundane every day moments. As ridiculous as that might sound, for me the day to day and week to week routines are the ones that build up to make the best moments. The ones you don’t necessarily record on your phone but the ones that you’ll think back on and remember ‘ oh I forgot they used to do that!’ or ‘ remember when they used to say this?’

Mundane things like, bathtime for example!

And so with that in mind I called on my friend (and amazing photographer) Johannes  to record some of these moments for us. And he did not disappoint!

It’s funny how time passes so slowly in some ways and yet you blink, and the babies are suddenly not babies anymore and you have two little boys in front of you. How can they change so rapidly right in front of you and you don’t even see it until the last little phase has passed and suddenly the cute word they couldn’t pronounce that made you melt is one day pronounced correctly, and that outfit that used to be too big is suddenly way too small for them…and that part of them is gone! And my favourite of all the day to day moments, when they fall asleep in your arms and the world slows down and you just stare at their little faces and wonder just how managed to produce someone so perfect.

One of the things I’m conscious of is that I’m hardly ever in any photos with the boys, I’m usually the one taking them. Another reason I love these is that I’m part of it, and not only that, but (as is very clear!!) I made no big effort in making sure I looked a certain way, I consciously chose not to make any particular effort with makeup or getting my hair done. I want the photos to really reflect our normal day to day life, just as the boys see me every day, as I am.

If I told someone I was having a photographer take photos of mundane things like getting them ready for a bath, or changing nappies, or just being at home, they’d probably think I was mad. And yet, this photo of changing Alex’s nappy is one of my favourites – one simple magic little day to day moment, captured.

Yes, perhaps that sounds a bit dramatic but I’m the type of person who wants to remember every bit of them, amazing and endlessly fascinating as they are. Watching them grow and learn and change into determined little people is with every second of the hard bits. Of course there’ll be the days out and the Christmases and various celebrations but I know it’s the magic of the seemingly mundane moments I’ll treasure just as much.

In all we received far more photos than I could ever choose from to include in one little blog post like this! I plan to get this done every so often and  and keep them as photobooks, a little story snapshot of a day in our lives. Simple every day moments, that on their own might not look like much to someone else, but altogether add up to lots of little moments of magic, hidden within the mundane of the every day.