How are you marking the end of this school year?
The school year that almost wasn't. The school year that sometimes seemed like it wasn't. It still produced a lot of change in our kids. They learned in spite of it all. And very likely learned some things because of it all.
Remember picking them up on that day in March 2020 and thinking naively that they would be right back after a long and adventurous 6 weeks at home? Hahaha. Ha.
The lessons learned have been varied and many. They've still grown. We've grown. Mine learned about YouTube and Minecraft and Roblox, things that I had been carefully and intentionally sheltering them from. They also learned how to use technology to maintain connections to friends, to collaborate online, and to build some pretty cool stuff. To be content with themselves as companions. How to do hard things like wear a mask that at first was uncomfortable and now is second nature. Some adults could use these lessons too. They've learned about science in a real life way. They've learned ways to care for and protect the vulnerable, and how a community shares responsibility for its members. They learned some math and some writing and some history and had some firsthand experience watching their grown ups learn to do things in new ways too.
I cannot wait for school to feel more "normal", even as part of me hopes that "normal" has learned some lessons this past year too.
As your kids wrap up this school year around Puget Sound and Snohomish County, whether with a graduation of some kind, a promotion to a new grade level, or a pledge to keep trying next year, I urge you to take some time and just look at your child. See how much she has grown. How his face has changed. Notice how many shoe sizes have been outgrown this school year. How style and preferences and language have evolved. Just look. Take a photo. Compare it to the photo I hope you snapped on the first day of school. Photography is powerful, and shows us things we otherwise wouldn't see.
Look at all of that growth. What a wonder our children have proven to be.
If you're noticing the changes, big and small, and want them really documented in a beautiful way, know that I am now offering a select number of petite Personality Pops sessions, designed especially to document your children and who they are right now. Available on summer evenings in Snohomish County for a limited time.
