I take hundreds of photos every month, and most of them don’t get shared with anyone, let alone online. And yet the moments in time that those photos capture are just as important a part of our story as the other images that I do choose to share.

I originally created this blog as a way of documenting our lives, a way of watching the girls grow into who they’re going to be and a way of remembering who they once were. It’s something I want them to be able to look back on as they get older, because memories fade but (digital) photographs don’t.

It’s easy (and tempting) to only focus on sharing the fun bits, the memorable parts, the highlights and the celebrations. But I’m learning more and more as I continue through this crazy journey of motherhood that it’s really important to me that I capture the ordinary, everyday times that we spend together as well.

The bits of the jigsaw that fill in the gaps to complete the picture. The tantalising glimpses into who our girls are becoming. The chaos, the calm and all the moments in between.

This monthly feature – The Moments In Between – is a space for me to share all of those magical bits that would otherwise just stay in a folder on my laptop, never to see the light of day.

MARCH

March has been a very strange month indeed, split into two distinct sections: life before lockdown and life after lockdown.

I’m so glad I was able to attend ClickAway in Atlanta before the global coronavirus pandemic really took hold.  Those few days of non-stop photography, connection, laughter and exploring a new-to-me city filled my heart and soul more than I can explain and I’m absolutely certain that my time there gave me exactly what I needed to be able to manage this new turn of events.

Schools are closed indefinitely and the girls are home full time, the husband has been furloughed from his job for the foreseeable future, I’m doing my best to continue working with my therapy clients online whenever I can, we’re staying home as much as possible, and we’re all figuring out a new rhythm together.  It’s challenging in many ways and we’re all adjusting at different rates but we’re together and we’re healthy and for that I am grateful.

I’m choosing to see this unexpected situation as an opportunity.  A time to reconnect with each other, to slow down, to do things we’ve never done before.  I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at being the Mum I always wanted to be and it’s highlighted to me more than ever the need and the importance of capturing those moments in between.

I recognise that I’m lucky to be in this position.  There are so many people for whom this isn’t the case, who’s finances have been hit far harder than ours have, who have family members who are sick that they aren’t allowed to go and look after, who have lost loved ones to the virus, who aren’t safe at home.  I would give anything to be able to help.

Chapter three of 2020 is over and it’s one that will go down in history for sure.  I feel like I haven’t perhaps documented it in quite the way I wanted to, but I’m giving myself grace for learning as I go.  After all, nothing like this has ever happened before in our lifetimes and it’s ok to figure it out as we go along.

I’m pleased to have documented the pieces of it that I did and thankful that they are captured forever.  There were many moments that I didn’t capture that I wish I had: Neil and I watching the nightly news conference together; me playing piggy-in-the-middle in the garden with the girls; movie afternoons; all three girls scattered in various rooms about the house diligently doing their school work as best as they can from home; video calls with Sophie; noses buried in books and imaginations soaring elsewhere in the world; the endless washing up now that everyone is home.

But there will be plenty of opportunities to document all of those moments.  I have a feeling that this situation is set to continue for the next couple of months at least, with the girls likely off school until the new school year starts in September.  So we have the time.

Now, more than ever, photographs are a vital way of telling the story of this unusual time in our lives.  These images are more than just snapshots – they’re a window into the memories we’ll have when we look back at this era in the years to come.  They’re what our children will show their wide-eyed grandchildren to illustrate what they went through.  They’re significant and meaningful and they matter more than we probably realise right now.

Every single photo has a multitude of layers beyond what you see on the surface.

Every single one speaks to me in so many ways.

Every single one is a piece of our jigsaw.

This is us.

Please note: All of these outdoor images in the woodlands were taken before the new rules of not being allowed to drive anywhere to go for walks were imposed.