10/10/2013

A new perspective.

Mama’s Losin’ It


Hand your child a camera and share life captured from their perspective.

It's fall break here, with twice the boys, twice the fun. What that also brought early in the week is an abundance of rain so we've been stuck inside quite a lot, which sometimes drives me to drink cocktails before 3pm and occasionally makes me hide in the bathroom yelling things like "GET BACK FROM THE DOOR!!  BATHROOM TIME IS PRIVATE!!!" and all the while reading a magazine or scrolling through Twitter on my phone while they bang on the door.  What they don't know won't hurt them, right? 

Anyway, mostly it's been fine, but the week isn't even half over and I'm already stretching to my limit of craft projects and fun afternoon activities so when I saw this blog prompt, I decided to turn it into a THING, if you will.

I gave my boys each a camera and a list of 10 things to take pictures of and sent them off on their way with strict instructions to a) not work together and take pictures of the same thing and b) not come back until the assignment was complete so I could have a minute to myself.  Except - OOPS - I forgot Cooper can't really read yet, so he got a pass to keep coming back to see what the next thing was on the list was.

It gave them something to do and it gave me something to blog about, and once again it amazed me at just how differently their minds work.  Here's what they came up with.



Green:  The first thing I put on the list for them to photograph was green.  Zack took kind of an easy out with a bunch of Skylander toys which would have fallen into pretty much any color category, and Cooper chose to photograph one of my houseplants.  It's totally out of focus but I'd say this round goes to Cooper by a mile.




Favorite Toy:  Next up on the list was the prompt for favorite toy.  Zachary took a picture of his iPad, which this fellow technogeek totally appreciates, and Cooper took a picture of his Imaginext castle.  I'm not sure that's really his favorite, so much as it was his most convenient to take a picture of.



Up high:  Cooper took a picture of the mantle, complete with my FAVORITE crazy lamp ever, and Zachary went upstairs to his room and took a pic of the cloudy, rainy sky.  I love this one so, so much.  It kind of sums up a rainy day at home with active boys. :)




Each Other:  
Not much to say about these except Cooper managed to take a pretty nice pic of my photo wall.  Apparently photographing living subjects is not a strong suit for them.




Not Yours:  This assignment caused some confusion for both the boys, since they pretty much lay claim to anything and everything in the house at all times.  Cooper finally took a pic of Zachary's silly putty (and presumably my coffee ring on the beat up old coffee table) and Zachary took a pic of Cooper's room.  I guess both of them followed the assignment to the letter of the law.



Round:  Super easy for Zack, who took a pic of the end of a SUPER COOL pool noodle lightsaber, and a little harder for Cooper, who chose something that I will refer to as round in spirit.  Or roundish.   Whatever.  Close enough.




Fluffy:  Two completely unrecognizable fluffy things.  I got the pics mixed up and neither kid could remember which thing was his.  Oh well.  At least they're fluffy.



Yummy:  Not their best work, apparently, but Cooper's is a pic of our candy bowl and Zachary's is a pan of brownies.  I think.





Something you don't like:  OK, this one was kinda scary.  Both of my children, totally independent of one another, took pictures of bathrooms.  When I asked Zachary why he didn't like the bathroom he said he hates to take a shower.  When I asked Cooper, he said "Well, sometimes I pee on the floor and then step in it and I hate it when that happens."  O_o  Me too, kid.  Me too.



Words:  Zack opted to take a pic of the Cooper's Use The Force shirt, and Cooper took a (super blurry) picture of his little bookcase.


I think this little photo assignment was pretty fun for both boys, and I really liked seeing what they came up with.  Maybe we'll make this a thing for rainy afternoons.  Their photography skills have nowhere to go but up. :)


Do you ever turn your kids loose with a camera?  What do you think of the results?



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11 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, what a great idea. And the results were so cute. I love that window photo, too, and the "Something you don't like" totally cracked me up! :)

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    1. Yes, boys and bathrooms. It's a "thing" I guess :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. A lot of these pics are really flame-worthy! I love the one Cooper took of the coffee table and turquoise silly putty! Fab post!

    *clickin in from MamaKat*

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    1. Thanks! It's interesting to see what they came up with.

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  3. I love that you gave them "prompts!" I'll have to try that sometime. Eeekkk. Little boys and bathroom floors. Been there, done that. I think mine is oblivious though :)

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    1. Yes, I have so, so much to say about little boys and bathrooms. None of it is good. They grow out of it, right? Right?

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  4. Gorgeous! So ingenious to give them prompts. This was great.

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    1. I think they enjoyed it. It was like a little scavenger hunt. We will definitely do it again!

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  5. What a great post! My kids would love this, too. And they are way older than your kids. Put this rainy day activity in your back pocket and bring it out again when hiding in the bathroom has stopped working.

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  6. I let my 9yo buddy play with my camera one afternoon and she took about 12 pictures of my butt. I don't know what this means but I'm choosing to be flattered... And not tell her mother.

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    1. HA! There are typically lots of butt and double chin pics of me on their ipods. I just delete those things right off of there.

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