By Joanna McClanahan of Ramblin’ Mama

Motivational speaker and author Kaylin Maree Schimpf shared a beautiful picture and a powerful message with the world last week. The Facebook post, which has gone viral, asks dads to take more pictures of their wives.

“Take the photo. You may not think about it often, or at all honestly. But how many photos does she capture of you, of your family and of your life you’ve built. But when she is gone, those photos won’t show your children the women who was behind the camera,” said Schimpf.

I am definitely guilty of shying away from being in front of the camera. I forget that my children won’t care about my messy hair or lack of makeup. They won’t worry about what’s left of my extra baby weight (if I’m even allowed to still call it that, years after my last baby). They’ll just want to see pictures of me; pictures of us. Reminders of the beautiful life we’ve led that include every member of our family.

“Messy hair, no make up or a dirty old t-shirt won’t matter to your children when she is gone someday. What will matter is that you loved what you saw enough to take a photo, to document it, to preserve that moment in time of the woman you love. No woman wants to look back at a lifetime of selfies. Do what she does for you every day, and snap a few moments in time. Be proud. Take photos of her. Before kids and after,” said Schimpf.

So dads, it’s on you to be thoughtful and take the pictures. We might not like the way we look in some of them, so take a lot. The more you take, the more likely we are to find a few that we love and cherish for a lifetime.

And as Schimpf reminds us, we won’t be around forever. Our kids are our everything. And they deserve to see these moments, where we showered them with love. They won’t care what we look like, or even if we actually showered. They’ll just want to see us. And dads, we need your help to make that happen.

*****

About the Author

Joanna McClanahan is an Editor at MockMom. She’s also a Contributor at Sammiches & Psych Meds and has been published on Scary Mommy. You can find more from her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.