Parenting opinions: is taking pictures stupid?

I want to do NoJoMo, but many of the prompts aren't quite hitting it for me. So instead, I'm going to write about topics that I am thinking about posting in my YouTube channel. So this will be the rough draft answer to questions that I am posing to myself. Does that make sense?

Feel free to write an entry with your own opinion, should you so wish.

So today we're starting with: Is taking pictures stupid?

The topics are a little rough, sorry. Is taking pictures stupid? I mean - my wife loves taking pictures. If you compare the gallery on her phone vs. my phone, you'll note that there are many more pictures in her phone. She really catches all the memories that I fail to capture. Sometimes I do take pictures though, but I would say that her opinion on pictures is that they're very important.

So on one end of the spectrum, there are those that don't care about pictures. You should live in the moment. These are the people that don't post their pictures to Facebook, and I'm somewhat that kind of person at this phase of my life.

Then there's those like my wife who love to take pictures and also post them.

But I'll say this - if you've ever lost a parent or a loved one, I think you will develop an appreciation for pictures. I was lucky enough that before my mum passed away, she sent me a physical photo album with pictures I might have otherwise never had. She also sent me a birthday card every year, and a Christmas card. Sometimes, when I'm working in my garage, I'll come across the last birthday card I ever received from her and it means so much to me now.

So, what do pictures gain for us?

For our children, they are a record of how much we loved them before they were able to realize it. Sometimes my children look back on pictures of when they were one year old dressed up in a Halloween costume, and that is a sign to them that we cared about them even when they couldn't show gratitude. The pictures we have of babies in Disney World show that we wanted to spend time with them even when they were physically high maintenance and would cry all the time.

For my 10 year old, the picture of her screaming on a roller coaster aren't just of her being terrified - they also signify the time when she overcame her fear of rollercoasters and embraces the joy of a mix of anxiety and terror.

For my 12 year old, the pictures of her biological mom on her wall are a sign to her that we don't choose to hate in this household, and instead embrace all of her parents.

For our spouse or significant other, it is a record of the times we've had together, or the milestones we've reached.

For yourself, it is a record of where you've been in life.

One of my favorite things that my wife does is she creates a photo album every Christmas. Each page has pictures from whatever we were doing in that particular month. So in January 2021, we will look back to January 2020 and we will see the memories of the things we did. It brings up positive memories and discussion when the kids see these, and it's exciting to roll the month over.

So is taking pictures stupid? In my opinion, it can be frustrating when it interrupts the good time you're having but there's also lots of value that a picture can bring.