I thought technology was supposed to make our lives easier? I’m really questioning that now since my digital camera is a part of me.  I almost feel naked if I leave home without it. I should holster it so I know that it’s always within easy reach. Ahhhhhh, it’s madness I say, MADNESS!!!!  I am now part of what I like to call, “The Parent Paparazzi” (TPP)  – you know you’re out there, don’t make me feel like I’m the only crazy one snapping pictures like my kids are at a photo shoot all day every day. Do I really need over 200 Halloween pictures of my girls?  I guess not but if I don’t have my sidekick Cannon with me I feel like I might miss that one adorable picture.  Of course, with all my worrying about capturing that perfect photo, I’m probably missing out on the real life live action events happening right under my nose.  Maybe I should be more like my husband who hardly ever picks up the camera or even thinks about it unless I’m harassing him to get at least one picture of me with the girls.  He goes to their events carefree, enjoying the day while I’m toting around my little black case hoping I have spare batteries on hand. 

To further compound my camera addiction taking, I am then left with hundreds of photos that I then have to download to my computer which I then have to download to Snapfish which I then either have to have printed or I have to take the time to create a digital photo album that is then printed in hard copy form (so many steps, so little time).  I thought it would make my life easier but it has only made me feel more pressure.  I’m so far behind in my photo albums now.  The last album I created was from summer 2008. Ahhhhh…..I am getting further behind with each picture I snap.  Okay, I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but our kids will never know the simpler times when we’d mail in our 35mm camera film and we’d patiently wait for the return of either 24 or 36 snapshots – never knowing if we had a good shot or a bad shot.  We just took the good with the bad and dealt with it.  Now, we can crop, reduce red eye, enlarge, shrink, add color, make the photos black and white or sepia (why?), and so much more.  It becomes mind boggling. I mean who really needs a camera card that can store over 1000 pictures????? (……”me”).

If my girls ever become famous, I don’t think the real life paparazzi will bother them at all.  They’ve grown up with flashes, and hearing “say cheese” and “smile” all their lives.  They know how to turn on the charm and they know when they’ve had enough (I have plenty of heads turned or looking down to attest to that).   They also know what it’s like to have multiple photographers snapping away – we could probably light up Mason with all the flash photography happening during the holidays.

With that being said, I did get some cute Halloween pictures of them that I just have to share……..the MADNESS continues!


Bat K and Cat S with Thelma (or is it Velma?) & Scooby Doo
at Kings Island's Howl-O-Fest!

P.S. - If you're not in "The Parent Paparazzi" (TPP), I know you're for sure in "The Girlfriend Paparazzi" (TGP) - similar symptoms as TPP but instead of having just one camera to worry about, you'll have multiples (sometimes in excess of 10+).  It happens innocently enough, one person will nicely ask, "Can you take a picture for me?" and the next thing you hear in chorus is, "Can you take one with my camera too?". Ahhhh.....the poor server or bystander now has 10 cameras to operate - they're snapping away madly so that we can all have the exact same photo.  Oh my........MADNESS! I may have to start a support group for TPPs and TGPs. Let me know if you'd like to join.