That’s Why We’re Here!

We finally got out of our pajamas and headed to the ice rink late Christmas afternoon. My natives were restless, and although I would have loved to lounge the entire day away – maybe do a little reading and writing – I rallied with the kids and we went.

After shelling out $100.24 for five rental ice skates and the skating fee, working up a sweat stuffing the boys’ feet into their skates and lacing them tightly (since, at 9 & 11, how could I expect them to TIE THEIR OWN SHOES?), we headed out onto the ice.

After 10 minutes, the first question came, “How much longer?”

My internal thought, “AHHHH! Are you kidding me? I could be in my pajamas still, you ingrate!”

My external words, “Well, we started skating at 3:30. After paying for this, we’re staying for AT LEAST AN HOUR.” (Internal thought again, “AND YOU BETTER HAVE FUN!”)

I overheard a kid from another skating family ask, “When are we going bowling?” I told my kids not to even think about it. We’re a one-outing-a-day kind of family.

But, I digress from the reason for this post. After about 30 minutes getting our skating legs, we were successfully circling the rink in sync with our accompanying Christmas oldies. I alternated between holding hands with the younger kids, skating next to them, and taking off to take a fast lap on my own or with one of the older girls.

I finally stopped resisting the pull and pulled out my new iPhone 5 (thank you, Santa!) to take some pictures. I got a great group shot and then started taking some videos and stills of each of the kids. I even got a great group video! (Side note: I can’t believe how awesome the photo quality is with the iPhone 5!)

After 15 minutes of filming and posing, I said, “I need to put this away and get back to skating.” To which my fourteen-year-old replied, “That’s why were here!” Meaning, getting fun, funny, or otherwise inspiring skating pictures to post on Instagram and Facebook was why we went skating. I thought we were having a family outing to get some exercise, be together, and enjoy a fun winter activity. But her statement got me thinking. How many of the things we do these days are motivated by the thought, “This would be fun to post.” Or, “This would make a great profile pic.”?

I confess I love this stuff as much as my kids do. I get sucked in as much as they do, and I love to post and comment and like and connect with my friends old and new. I loved seeing the Christmas messages and photos from everyone yesterday!

But, once again, I circle back to needing to create rules for myself around social media. Keeping some family events private. Not photographing every occasion (because then I’m behind the camera instead of in the moment) even though I love taking pictures.

Add to my (short) list of goals for 2013: Take a deep breath and enjoy the actual moment I’m in, not the future post I’m creating.

That’s Why We’re Here!

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