Put Mom in The Photo! Two Tips to Make Sure it Happens

You know CVS? The pharmacy right down the street? And you know the CVS Photo department? Well, they reached out about the “Put Mom in The Photo” campaign they’re working on, and the whole concept resonated with me completely.

If you’ve ever read Design Mom before, it’s probably pretty obvious to you that I really enjoy this motherhood gig and do my best to throw my heart and soul into it. But if you looked through our family photo library, you might not know it. Because there are so few images of me interacting with the kids. And I know why:

The practical reason? I end up snapping most of the photos of the family which means I’m behind the camera and not in the pictures.

The ridiculous reason? The camera comes out and instantly, I decide I’m not feeling my prettiest, and I think of all the reasons I “shouldn’t” get in the photo. I don’t have lipstick on. I didn’t shower yet. This shirt has a spot. I need to lose a few pounds. It’s a bad hair day. I feel bloated. And on and on and on.

Do you do this too? I’m sure I’m not the only one.

These reasons really are ridiculous. You know this and I know this. I only have a couple of photos of me and my own mother and I treasure them. And it has never occurred to me once to think about whether she is “camera-ready” in the photos or not. I’m just so grateful to have any photos with her.

Assume your kids will feel the same way. As their mother, you make up a big part of their childhood memories, but if they look through the family albums or online photo libraries and you’re not there, it’s like you’ve erased yourself from those memories. They’ll find great photos of that family vacation to the lake, working in the yard, the last day of school — but they won’t find pictures of you in any of those albums.

Put mom in the photo!

If you find yourself resisting, here are two tips that have helped me as I’ve tried to get in front of the camera more often.

1) Give someone else the job. You can still be the main photographer, but assign someone else — an older child, or your spouse, or a friend — to be in charge of making sure photos are being taken of you too. (And when they ask you to hold still for a shot, or smile for the camera, do it.)

2) Come up with a project that will require you to be in front of the camera. For example, I decided I would make a photo book for each of my kids, and the photos would all be photos of me and the child together. Every single photo. A whole book of just one of my kids + me (and times that by 6 for six kids). You can see the book I made of me and June featured here.

The project has been so good for making sure I get in front of the camera. Do I love every photo of myself? No. Not by a long shot. But my kids like them just fine. And someday, I know I’ll look back and won’t remember I was having a bad hair day. I’ll just be glad for the photos.

Can you see why the Put Mom in The Photo campaign resonated with me? I imagine it resonates with you too. And that brings me to my big CVS Photo discovery. When they asked me to check out their wares, I was skeptical. There are lots of photo printing options out there and I wasn’t necessary looking for a new service. What would CVS be able to offer that I wasn’t already taking care of at other photo shops? Well, it only took me like 10 seconds on their website to realize why I was totally going to use CVS Photo:

I can order custom photo products, like the beautiful hardcover book featured here in this post, and pick them up the SAME DAY.

That is major. Huge. If you’re like me, and you sometimes put things off — for example, not ordering the custom photo book you wanted to give for Mother’s Day until you’ve even missed those rush shipping dates — well then, you need to know about CVS Photo. They have a whole collection of same-day photo items. And because it’s CVS, and CVS is everywhere, picking it up is a snap.

Since discovering the same day service, I keep thinking of reasons to put it to use. For example, I helped Oscar order a photo gift when he wanted to give a heartfelt present to a retiring teacher (but only gave me a 2 day heads up). And I’m also thinking I could even have a photo book printed at a CVS in another state (perhaps for my Mom), and have a friend or taskrabbit pick it up. Plus, the prices are really reasonable. The photo book above? It was less than $20.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday. Are you ready? I’m definitely not. But with same day photo gifts, I have hope. We can do this!

This post was sponsored by CVS Photo — Put Mom in The Photo! I’m proud to be partnering with CVS Pharmacy to help spread the word about their photo services. All opinions expressed are my own, and all product claims or program details shared should be verified at CVS.com or with the appropriate manufacturers.