When I got engaged, I made a video with photos and music for our party. It took me forever but it was so rewarding and worthwhile. To look back on everything we'd done and created up until that point in our relationship was magic, I couldn't remember half of it until I saw them all in that video. My heart fluttered with fullness.
I promised myself I'd always make these videos in my life; of ME and things I'd accomplished (that we women so often shy away from celebrating), of my marriage, our children, the first year of my son's life, or maybe just the last five of his years combined... because, while making those videos stays strongly planted on my to-do list... I just haven't done them yet.
I took comfort in knowing I have taken SO many photos, I've got lots to work with, I'll find the time eventually. Then I saw cute videos on YouTube of children being interviewed, and I wanted to do that too! I tried a few times to ask my son questions and he gave me 'I know I'm being filmed so I'm not going to say anything I typically say right now.' Ugh, frustrating. I'll try again another day.
And then I met Mel, a beautiful soul who also happens to have started a beautiful business called Inspired Stories. She makes adorable little videos of school aged children, including an interview AND their artwork in the background. THEIR ARTWORK! The never ending pile of scribbles, that are so damn cute, but are we supposed to keep them forever?? Andrew is only 5, and I'd have boxes already if I didn't... recycle...some, most, most of it. But with Inspired Stories, I pick my favourite pieces of his from that year, and she adds them to the video, talk about birds and stones!
I'm grateful for two things. Firstly, that I have accepted the need to OUTSOURCE, even some of my passion projects that I would truly rather see complete than take credit for doing them myself. And secondly, for Mel and her passion to create these videos for me; I plan on doing one every year for each of my boys for last long as I can. What a wonderful little time capsule that will be, even for THEIR children to watch in a million years from now.
The icing on the cake is Mel's newest option, Cherish Motherhood. I was pampered with hair, makeup, champagne, then interviewed about all the good and the not so good about being a mother, my beautiful children, the highs the lows. She gave me 'homework' of finding photos of our lives; our marriage, the births of our boys, the epic events, and never forget moments, and she's going to make it all into a beautiful video that I can cherish forever.
I can't say that in the midst of raising small children I ever feel like I'm "cherishing" anything other than alone time and sleep, but my afternoon with her made me step out of the war zone and look at it from a big picture perspective. I felt so grateful in that moment for how far I've come, what motherhood has taught me so far, and how I may not be able to remember half of it while I'm in the thick of it, but now I can, with Cherish Motherhood.
I'll be sure to share it here when I get my hands on it, in the meantime, here's a tiny snippet of one of Andrew's videos for you. If you're interested, get in touch with Mel here, and tell her I sent you! Sharing is caring.
Big love to you and your story,
Kristin x
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