Have you ever been one of those children that just didn’t like getting any sort of PDA from your parents? Sadly, to my mother’s dismay, I was one of them. As affectionate to her kids as my mother is, she was also a stern disciplinarian. I remember while growing up, I would be outside hanging out with my friends and my mom would come home from a long day at work. She would walk over to me, give me a hug and then plant a big kiss on my cheek. Right there, in front of all my friends. Of course in my head, that simple public display of affection from a mother to a child would ruin any sort of coolness factor I had with my friends. So I would then non-nonchalantly wipe my cheek with my hands. There would be days where my mom would not see it and I would get away with such a rebellious act but there are days where she would catch me and give me “the STARE”. I would then jokingly glide my hand back and pretend I’m “wiping back” her kiss. To the delight of my friends of course. Oh those were the days. And now as a parent myself, I now understand her plight. After a long day at work, seeing your baby and kissing her on her chubby cheeks is the only thing I look forward to after a long stressful day at work.
But as luck would have it, I’ve probably passed on some of those “kisses-equals-cooties” genes to my very own daughter. Because when I come home from a long day at work, instead of running towards their dad and yelling “DAD’s HOOMMEE!!!” like normal kids do, she would run away from me and bury her face on my wife’s lap. I have to resort to begging or trying to steal a kiss. Can you believe that? But I’m not bothered by it. No not one bit. Because at night, when I put her to sleep, she would give me the biggest hug and plant the biggest kiss a little person can muster on my cheeks. Right before she goes to sleep. That’s when I know I am still special to her. Because I know that kiss is only meant for her daddy. I do hope that when Bernadette's kids are older, they look back at all the photos I have taken of them, and realize how much their parents loves them.
At this moment, it may seem like their mom is just nagging them to go to these yearly shoots, but in hindsight, it is the only way to keep certain memories alive. I hate to even say this, since I was at one point, THAT kid, but there will come a time when the kids grow up and they think that they are too cool to be seen next to you. And will even cringe at the thought of their own parents kissing them in public. It's just nice to know, there was a moment in time, when kissing you was the best part of their day. All captured for anyone to cherish and relive. And in hi-resolution JPEG fomat.
