Just A Snapshot<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although Fall is my favorite season I do love summer. Warm sunshine, BBQ\u2019s and festivals make my world go \u2018round during the summer months. Last year my\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/growmama\/parenting\/just-a-snapshot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Just A Snapshot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although Fall is my favorite season I do love summer. Warm sunshine, BBQ\u2019s and festivals make my world go \u2018round during the summer months. 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{"id":672,"date":"2010-03-11T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/growmama.com\/?p=672"},"modified":"2010-03-11T06:00:25","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T10:00:25","slug":"just-a-snapshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/growmama\/parenting\/just-a-snapshot\/","title":{"rendered":"Just A Snapshot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

It takes place at a park that backs on to a beach and with the 30-degree (celsius) weather we were having that day, I was certainly glad to take a break from the park and frolic in the water with my daughter. After some splish-splashing fun we decided to head for dry land and grab some food. While I was walking with my pants soaked to the knees, my daughter in one hand and our shoes in the other, a man with a camera approached me and said, \u201cI just took a great shot of you with your daughter on the beach\u201d and then proceeded to tell me it would likely be printed in the local paper. I was thrilled with our good fortune. Out of thousands of people we were lucky enough to have grabbed the eye of that photographer \u2013 what are the odds?<\/p>\n

I browsed the online paper and found our picture there. The moment he had captured was of me catching my daughter (after throwing her up in the air) and we look so happy. I began to feel warm all over because I felt this one picture was a sincere representation of not just a moment in time but of my life as a whole. I have a daughter whom I adore, I enjoy being playful with her and life is good.<\/p>\n

I often trip up on what I should be doing. Questions like \u201care you planning on going back to work?\u201d always intensify an uncertainty within me that asks if I should be doing more than \u2018just\u2019 being a stay-at-home mom. This picture reminded me of the power I had let one four-letter word -just- control me with. This picture reminded me that I\u2019m not \u2018just\u2019 a mom (whatever that means) but I\u2019m the world to one little girl. And I\u2019m not \u2018just\u2019 staying at home; I\u2019m building a life for someone and with someone.<\/p>\n

The funny thing is, that photo was one split second in my life but seeing it knocked the \u2018just\u2019 right out of me. Is my life perfect? Of course not. Do I feel I have enough? No. Is motherhood a honeymoon everyday? Certainly not. But am I happy? Absolutely. And therein lies the golden ticket. And all you have to do is reach for it.<\/p>\n

Lena Hassan<\/p>\n

Lena Hassan lives in Ottawa, Ontario and is a loving mother of one.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"