freeze-frame

freeze-frame (frēz'frām'):
1. a still picture in the course of a movie or television film, made by stopping a reel or videotape at one desired frame.
2. a vivid, motionless scene or image.

let me give my own definition:
capturing a moment in life by stopping time for one desired frame and preserving it as a vivid, motionless scene or image.

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i am jealous. i'm jealous of most of you parents out there in blogosphere. and i'll tell you why.

most of you have younger children and are able to write about the daily happenings that involve them. or take a picture capturing a certain moment or occasion. there are so many special moments in a child's life and in the life of a family. i'm going to call these moments; freeze-frames.

for example, just today, i saw a picture of a precious little girl peeking underneath a garage door... freeze-frame. i watched a homemade video of another little girl learning how to swim under water for the first time... freeze-frame. and then another picture of a little girl on her first day of school along with her mom writing about her own personal thoughts and fears as she watches her baby go off to school... freeze-frame.

with the help of the blogging world and digital photography, you can not only save those freeze-frame moments, but then share them with friends and family. you have a record of those moments. your moment as proud parent increases with each and every view of your blog.

and i am very jealous of that. my kid's childhoods have come and gone (for the most part). i wish i had had the opportunity to blog when they were smaller. to record that first step, or them dressed up in the ballerina tutu or baseball uniform, or something they said which was funny or profound. or how it felt when they were baptized or to rush them off to the doctor with a broken arm. and even though i remember the events, my recollection of the details and how i felt during each, fades with each passing day. that saddens me more than i can say.

even though i'm jealous of you, i also applaud you and want to encourage you to keep your camera close by at all times and to write about not just the special occasions, but the everyday happenings. write about your feelings. write about your children. write about life as it unfolds each and every day.

i also want to say that even if your children are grown, or maybe you have no kids at all, you can still have freeze-frames. life is full of them... whoever you are or wherever you are. i had one this morning with my 19 year old daughter. sorry, dani - i have to share ;-)

this morning, my daughter came into my room and asked me to make my bed because she wanted to lay on it. i was about to hop in the shower so i told her just to lay on it unmade or even crawl into it. she was pretty adamant in her "no, i want you to make it." as i started to make it (it needed to be made anyways) i grumbled something like, "i don't see what difference it makes." her reply was, "i can't lay in your bed unmade because i don't know what's happened under those covers!" i laughed heartily. i guess some freeze-frames are for a more mature audience. lol.

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link of the day:
http://www.virtualsandcastle.com/