put those pictures on the wall

One of the biggest tips we received when we went to the pre-adoption classes and seminars: put up photos of the kid!

I will never forget the first time the girls came home from school, and we had hung up their school photos and our first professional family portrait. They stopped in their tracks and were in awe. They could not take their eyes off the framed photos.

Over the years, their eyes still search out photos of themselves around the house. They immediately notice if I change out a photo or put up a new frame. Such a small thing has made a huge impact on feeling like a part of our family.

Through tears the girls have told me how they have never had anyone put up their photos before. We put up all kinds of pictures: school pictures, sports teams, dance groups, extended family group shots, and my own personal faves from our trips. Any time a place offers a photo, we do it. No matter how ridiculous, we have done it. Sometimes they are the only shots we can get of the whole family on a trip.

The girls have their own photo frames and albums for their rooms where they can choose what goes where. I just constantly print out pictures and divide them up between the three of us. I maintain the family photo albums so we can hold our memories all in one place. When they complete a year or season of whichever activity, I go online and make a book to memorialize the experience.

I want the girls to remember what they want. They recently earned phones and can now take pictures of their lives away from me. During summer camps, they are not allowed to have phones, so I make sure to send them with my older digital cameras.

These days I know a lot of their peers do not have many photos up in their homes. People take pictures on their phones and then they are never seen again. When I print out my photos from my kids’ events, I usually print out extra for their friends that we know and they are always so thrilled to have the photo and not just a file. You can tell it means a lot to them to have the memory in their hand.

Do you have pictures of your kids up in your house?