Katie SwiftPHOTOGRAPHER
Because when your firstborn son goes to his first homecoming dance with his rock star girlfriend, you drive them. On the way you stop at a sunset field… then proceed to take too many pictures. And when you notice your boy, who is wearing a fancy suit and a watch, is also wearing a...
The truth is, I don’t want to take pictures of you and your trendy family in a field somewhere. Not that there’s anything wrong with fashion and fields but it doesn’t say anything about who you are. If anything, your hip, hair blowing in the wind, gracefully gliding through tall grasses family does nothing but...
When I was 5 years old I jumped into a hole that I couldn’t get out of. The fire truck had to come and my mom brought me Kool-aid. I don’t remember jumping or sirens or even being scared. I just remember Kool-aid. And my mom, long legged and unsure of what to do. And...
Yesterday Savannah started kindergarten. She put on her new owl outfit, backpack blue and was out the door. The school with its expanse of grassy fields and metal playgrounds made her look small. But her expression, the way she ran ahead of me, told me she is bigger than her surroundings. Of course there was...
Who is the good father? Is he strong and wise and warrior like? Or is he soft, and fun and affectionate? Does he work long hours to provide? Or does he coach little league? Does he throw the football with you or does he teach you how to read? Maybe it’s not really important what...
Our kids are dirty. Like sometimes we forget to take baths for days dirty. Like something smells and it’s David’s head dirty. Or Savannah’s hands. Ew. But it wasn’t always that way. For David’s first birthday we gave him a cake all for himself. We thought he’d dive right in and we could take pictures....
Today I went to Starbucks to waste my daily three dollars on a drink and sanity. A car of three teenage girls tried to cut in front of me but I wasn’t having it. They gave me dirty looks and pulled around behind me. I was praying for one of them to get out and...
My mother came over the other day right as I was lying the kids down for their naps. She waited for me on the couch and when I finally sat down beside her, she looked at me in a way she never had before. She told me she was sorry. I don’t remember if she grabbed...
Parenting is not a religion. It is not a list of rules I can follow and be made righteous. A library of books I can read and understand. A way of life that can make my family more Holy. It’s not about whether we homeschool or let our kids watch tv. The nurturing mothers don’t...
There is something empowering about getting rid of toys. It’s like a proclamation. A declaration for my children and for myself. A bold statement to all the advertisements, the billboards and the commercials that never shut-up. We don’t need your stuff! Your stuff does not make us happy. Because the things you promise will bring...
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written. I want you to know that it’s not personal. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. There is so much that I want to say. I have met someone. Ok well technically I met Him years ago and He’s known me since, like, forever....
It was easy to see that cigarettes would kill me until I was nic’n for a smoke. And to have a candy bar until I was afraid of food and the sickening compulsion to make myself throw it up later. It was so easy to talk about how people are overmedicated until it was me...
I think the hardest thing is that no matter what I do I can’t make my my children happy. I try everything to entertain them: parks, pools, swing sets, popsicles, toys, gumballs, play-dates, preschools, you name it. It doesn’t work. They fight and they whine and they cry mommy mommy mommy. And I have a headache....
When I was a little girl I did not have a daddy. I did not get spun or twirled and when I put on my pretty dresses I had no one to show them to. Now I am all grown up with a daughter of my own. And she has a daddy. And a lot...
Our backyard is like a desert wasteland (minus the warmth and sunshine). I look out the kitchen window and expect to see a tumbleweed blowing by. It’s a big yard but we have no trees, no patio. We have a florida room made of aluminum that does not make me feel like I’m in Florida....
Sometimes the best way to describe parenting is through the children themselves. My son Jonah, for example just has a knack for expressing the Monday Morning Grumpies. No amount of reasoning, sweet talk or bribery can cure the grumpies. My son David shows the best way to react to these situations. Everyday I ask God...
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