Our home isn’t perfect. We live here.

And that’s actually what makes it pretty perfect to me. I complain about toys left here or there and things not put where they belong, but the important thing to remind myself is that one day there won’t be action figures left on the window sill. The only scrapbook supplies that are left out will be mine. There won’t be a game of football being played on the dining room table with football trading cards. There won’t be a basket full of clean socks that need to be folded…well, there might still be that. This image below was taken three years ago. This action figure was placed on our window sill by my youngest (he was 7.5 at the time) to “guard the house”. I move him to dust, I place the Christmas village around him in the winter, but I don’t remove him. He’s still there. He’s not going anywhere. (he’s in the collage below as well and that image was taken this week)

Throughout our home there are little reminders that we live here. I want my children to remember that. I want them to feel secure in their own homes as adults that their life wasn’t always picture perfect, but it was perfect for us.

The next time you walk by a little mess that your children have left, grab a quick photo…these moments should be documented too. Those “messes” will evolve from the days of them being little to tween and to teens and beyond. If someone burns breakfast but the smoke hits the light as it comes through the window…photograph it. If your kids are making breakfast but there are still dishes in the sink and it “messes up your shot”, get the photo anyway. There won’t always be a football at the dinner table or a mess of shoes in the garage, these things change and they change quickly.

I want my family to know that we lived here and you can, too with these few ideas:

• Do your kids leave things on the steps to go upstairs, photograph those items
• Kids all snuggled in their bed but the room isn’t super clean? Take the photo anyway.
• Do your kids sometimes not clean up after playing a game right away? Take a photo of the aftermath.
• Speaking of aftermath: Christmas, birthdays…don’t forget to take photos.
• Do you find little items that belong to your loved ones sprinkled throughout the house? Get photos.

This post is part of a 31 day series. Read the first post here about documenting everyday life and see a list of all of the other posts in the series.