EACH WEEK, A different Irish parent chats us through a family photo from Instagram and explains what was really going on outside the frame – from tantrums to toilet disasters.
This week, Tracey Quinn (@traceysblog) filled us in on what’s happening behind the scenes in a picture of a seemingly quiet moment between her then four-week-old daughter Willow and five-year-old son Billy.
Name: Tracey Quinn
Occupation: Writer, currently on maternity leave
Number of kids: 2
Ages: Willow, six weeks; Billy, five years
Where: Dublin
Here’s Tracey’s chosen photo…
It was one of those calm moments in the midst of a chaotic morning. I was getting dressed and my son was saying good morning to his baby sister. This was a couple of weeks ago, so she was four weeks old at the time. He is absolutely obsessed with her. I loved the sheer difference in their size and thought it would be a cute image to capture and send to my husband. She was smiling at him while he talked to her in a baby voice calling her “the little woman” as we do. They were both so happy.
It was in the middle of a stressful morning. It wasn’t even a particularly stressful day, but it’s been a big adjustment with a newborn. We had a 30-minute drive to my son’s play-school and timing feeds/changes/food with that morning journey was proving stressful.
It’s the anxiety you can’t see in the photo here. I had just dressed and fed the little one and in the meantime little man had lost one of his socks and pretended that his teeth had been brushed. We had about five minutes left before we would have him late for school and I was already panicking about how many times we would have to stop the car if the baby started crying.
It was a fairly candid moment, actually. I think that’s why, even when time was so limited that morning, I had to capture it. It also happened to be in front of a window where the light is good!
Just four weeks ago that little boy was my baby and in the blink of an eye he’s such a big boy. He is a monster compared to his baby sister and I’m so proud of how well he has adjusted to life since her entrance. I also adore the way they are looking at each other. That’s pure and utter love right there.
Nope, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t love that it was taken in a relatively tidy part of the house. Just behind them there is a massive pile of laundry to be folded, as well as the nappy I had just taken off baby Willow.
Pretty well, actually. These two humans are my life. That bed is where I went in to labour just four weeks ago and where we’ve spent a great deal of time feeding, cuddling and getting to know each other. It’s the bed where we co-slept with my son. It reflects the best of me – my two little ones. It makes me feel extremely lucky and puts it all in perspective really. The laundry won’t bring with it magical memories but this right here? It’s the good stuff.
Do you have a family photo from Instagram with a great behind-the-scenes story? The day at the beach when the little one ingested a mouthful of sand – or the smiley photo taken just minutes after a tantrum? If so, we want to hear from you! Email amy@thejournal.ie with a few lines about yourself and your kids for a chance to feature in What You Don’t See Here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say