As parents we are on that roller coaster in which we have a love/hate relationship.  We love the hugs, the snuggles, the nighttime confessions about the school days.  We love dinnertime talks. We love kitchen dance parties.  And we love sharing secrets.  But at the same time we face epic tantrums.  We struggle with punishing the bad behavior and fearing our actions will send our kids to an adulthood of therapy sessions.   I worry.  All. Of. The. Time. Honestly, it’s what I do best.  An afternoon a few days before Christmas, my son acted out and up and sideways and frontways and backways and eventually ended up being sent to his room.  To my surprise, when I went to relieve him of his punishment, I found him sitting in his chair, staring out the window.  In an interesting turn of events, he’d managed to turn his favorite chair into a “rocking chair” by taping pillows to the base.  He was proud of his accomplishment, forgetting he’d been in trouble for his prior actions.  I hunkered down in the corner, pinned between his bed and the wall, and just started photographing the moments that were slowly happening in front of me.  We talked about things as we always do.  He played with the blinds as he loves to do.  He opened and closed the window while shouting at his neighbors. And when he was done, he left.  He left me there with a camera and an empty room.

While these images aren’t of some magical place, I love them.  And I’m so glad he sat long enough to talk to me and let me grab these moments.  Even if they were all caused by a little bit of bad behavior.