Home

My mother loves to take pictures. This is a good thing, because I don't take any pictures at all. I know I should, but I don't.

Maybe some of it has to do with the fact that I don't like getting my own picture taken. I hide at every turn. I don't think any picture of me is a really good picture. So maybe that translates to me not wanting to take anyone else's picture, but I have a feeling it's more because I'm too lazy to remember to drag a camera around with me. So it's really good that my mother likes to take pictures, otherwise I'd never have any of my kids.

My mother likes to do things with her pictures, too. She has two annual picture projects. The first is a family calendar that she works on all summer and hands out at Rosh Hashanah. Each month has a scrapbook page full of pictures representing that month's family celebrations -- if you have a birthday or anniversary in March, for example, your picture will be plastered all over that month. The only month we don't have any family birthdays or anniversaries is August. (My mother asked for one of us to have a baby some August but I guess none of us was interested in a pregnancy at the height of summer, and now we are all done having kids.) So every year she stresses over what she can do for that page. Usually it turns out to be a theme -- we've had both a "summer" theme and a "pets" theme for August in the past, as well as many others. Everyone looks forward to the calendar each year, wondering which pictures will be in it. Of course, my mother always has trouble finding pictures of me to put in my "months" since I never allow my picture to be taken.

The other project my mother undertakes for each of her four grandchildren's birthdays is an oversized personalized birthday card. First, my father cuts out the child's new age from a large piece of oak tag in the child's preferred color. Since my kids usually change their favorite colors as often as they change their birthdays, this works out really well! Then my mother asks the grandchild's parents and siblings for a list of the child's current favorites, like sports, hobbies, music groups, television shows, and such.

My mother then spends some time trying to find stickers representing those interests to put on the number card. She also has pictures of the child from throughout the year to put on the card. Any object she puts on the card -- from cars to baseballs to flowers to cupcakes -- is stuck on in groups of whatever that child's age is. For example, my daughter is about to be 16, so she will get a big number 16 card with groups of 16 things on it -- maybe 16 cars since she is about to get her driver's permit or 16 stickers representing her temple youth group.

We have about a dozen of these cards hanging in our basement. They've become an expected part of each of the grandchildren's birthday celebrations. My mother keeps saying she is going to stop making calendars and oversized birthday cards because they are so much work, but she doesn't seem to be able to stop herself from doing it. I have a feeling we'll be seeing calendars and birthday cards for a long time to come.

So I guess in the end it's actually fine that I don't take any pictures of my kids. With all the pictures my mother needs to take for her various yearly projects, she takes enough for both of us!

Judy Walters is a freelance writer who lives in Kendall Park. She can be reached at JWRWAND2@aol.com.