Years ago, I wrote about how much I love seeing moms in photos with their kids, and I still do. Especially now that I’m the only adult in the house, I’m so grateful when friends snap a candid shot of my boys and me. So! In honor of moms in the frame, we asked 11 friends to share their favorite photos of themselves in action…
“This was taken in 2018 at my mom’s house in Vermont. My own mom and I had just gone thrifting, and she had convinced me to buy this great homemade dress. We were in her yard having gin and tonics, and the kids were on summer break, fully feral, as you can see from my four-year-old, who was really feeling himself in his straw hat.” — Kathryn Jezer-Morton
“My son had just started kindergarten and was having such a difficult time. I felt so overwhelmed and didn’t know how to help him or what to do. On his birthday in late September, the two of us rode the Q train all the way out to Coney Island. The park was empty, we played games and won a stuffy, ate cotton candy, and rode the ferris wheel (this is a photo from the top). It was a special day.” — Erin Jang
“My second birth experience was so fast. The doctor told me that if I felt like I needed to poop, to let them know right away. And I was like, I need to poop now. I remember they were like, no, it’s too soon. But sure enough, they checked and I was ready to go. I only pushed twice, and she came out! My first birthing experience was much, much longer, so I was so relieved to be done. We don’t have family in NYC, so it was just Zach and me in the birthing room. I’m so grateful for the nurse who asked if she could have my phone while I was pushing, so she could take photos of us during the birth. Otherwise, I never would’ve got this photo, which I’ll cherish forever.” — Alison Piepmeyer
“This was our first big family hiking trip! It was my daughter Louise’s idea for us to have matching braids. Now we do them every time we do anything adventurous together.” — Liz Libré
“This summer, we went on a screen-free road trip as a family up the East Coast, and it was wild and difficult and beautiful. We were forced into this sitcom-esque closeness that was both impossibly hard and also funny and sweet. I’ll never, ever forget it. (Here, we were at Franconia Falls.)” — Kate Baer
“After having my second child, Emiliano, I could NOT get over how different he was from my older daughter, Ella. He never slept through the night, he loved the stroller, and he spat up all the time. I felt like everything I’d learned about parenting was useless because none of my old tricks worked with him. But one difference that always brought me to my knees? He was thumb sucker.” — Jannelle Sanchez
“This photo was taken shortly after my final round of chemo, and my hair was finally starting to grow back. I remember thinking how long and luscious my locks felt (lol), and all I wanted were photos of my kids with me in the frame — proof of my existence, and my survival, if I’m being honest! It was the purest form of happiness that I’d ever experienced.” — Nicki Sebastian
“I love this photo on vacation with my two girls. I’m working long hours right now and really treasure time with both of them.” — Selena Ma
“This photo is from last year at the U.S. Open. My kids don’t play tennis yet but I’m obsessed with tennis and encourage the fandom. I always root for Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side and Jasmine Paolini on the women’s side, and they love to make fun of my intensity.” — Youngna Park
“I hope heaven is lying in my cousin’s garden with my baby napping on my chest.” — Bess Kalb
My friend Claire also lives solo with her daughter, so I try to snap photos of them whenever they’re doing something sweet, which is most of the time. How lovely are they, draped on each other? Brings tears to my eyes.
Thoughts? Do you ever take selfies? Or jump into the photo? If not, this is your friendly invitation to do that, if you’d like. xoxo
P.S. A parenting realization that really moved me, thoughts on a mother’s body, and my cousin Meredith being an absolute MOM on a ride at Disney World.
