The Great Picture Project

Every January I make a “to do” list for the year. Every year, I move one item from the previous year’s list, to the next. May I present to you that one item: The Great Picture Project . . .

Yep, that’s my wedding picture on top, and somehow Pokemon cards ended up on the pile. There’s a bulk-sized diaper box under there too filled with snapshots, as well as every school picture, years of Santa and the Easter Bunny pics, and a copy of every photo card we’ve ever made. If you could see the pictures, you’d tell me how cute my kids are, and how lovely I looked on my wedding day. But you can’t. I know.  You think this is a mess?  You should see the mess I make of this pile when I have to do a school project involving a baby picture!

This mess of photographs started accumulating sometime around the turn of the millenium, although search the abyss and you’ll find that some pictures predate the twenty-first century. The Photo Blob was born to a busy new mom who liked to take pictures of her adorable kids. In its early days, when it was not quite a Blob, it sat in baby JC’s room in the form of a neat little pile of photographs previously uploaded to Kodak Gallery, ordered, and mailed right to our doorstep. Pictures of JC sleeping, JC smiling, JC with Dad, JC with Mom, etc. etc. etc.

Our baby’s so cute! I’ll put some pictures in his baby book and organize the rest into lovely albums and scrapbooks! said the Delirious Person who sometimes lives in my brain.

Months went by. Years went by. Little M. was born. More pictures, more Kodak Gallery. Oh wait! Now there’s Snapfish and Shutterfly too! A new camera! You’re kidding? We can take pictures with our PHONES? Snap, snap, click, click went the crazy parents. Envelope after envelope of pictures showed up on our doorstep as we admired the beauty of our kids, and envelope after envelope ended up in JC’s room into the bulk-sized diaper box where the “little pile” now lived.

Soon, the little pile in JC’s room developed into a Mini-Blob that overtook the measly diaper box and blocked our pathway to JC’s bed. So what did I do?

Supermom moved the Mini-Blob into the hallway, where it grew for another few years into the Super-Blob it is today (Especially with the addition of class pictures- always Package A, the most pictures possible- because who wouldn’t want a picture of my kids? They’re precious!).

The Blob has since settled into its home, squatting on its own landing of our staircase. I get to see it every time I climb the stairs to JC’s room. It annoys me to some extent but not as much as it should, obviously, or else I would have dealt with it. Honestly, for all I care the Blob can live there into eternity. However, JC’s nine now, and he’s getting old enough to realize that giant piles of photographs aren’t really supposed to be outside his bedroom door.

That, and I just feel like it’s time, Blogtropolis.

When the boys were little, I did my best but I was kind of a disaster. I refer to my method of parenting and living during those years as “survival mode.” I tried to get through the day the best I could, and I didn’t have the patience or motivation to sit and deal with the pictures or any other issues superfluous to food, medical care, shelter, and other necessities. The pictures would always be there, on the staircase landing, to stare me down every time I brought JC up to his room. They weren’t going anywhere, and organizing them wasn’t vital to our survival.

But now it’s time to deal. I want to live a life that’s more fulfilling than simply “survival mode.” And I’m at the point where I care (sort of) about how my house looks.

Earlier this month, when I made my list of resolutions, I once again added “The Great Picture Project” to the list. So here I am, staring it down like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western. I’m hoping that telling you about the Blob and sharing my shame will motivate me to tackle it. I know I will feel better once I slay the Blob and clear the space. I know there are hidden treasures within the Blob that will make me smile. Pictures that deserve a frame and a shelf, but are now suffocating under the weight of their Master. The Blob represents a time when I was harried, and impatient, and unmotivated. I’m still that person occasionally, but I’m better now. It’s me versus the Picture Blob, and I think, finally, that I have the edge.

[Also, while I’m on the subject, anyone have any suggestions? Please don’t tell me to scrapbook because that won’t happen. I feel like my only options are albums (which are expensive and take up space) or picture boxes (which will be destroyed the first time the kids discover them). I’ll probably go with the boxes, maybe label them by year and hide them away? Help me, Blogtropolis!]

I’ll update my progress (if there is any) in a future post. Wish me luck!

Author: Jess

I like to write stuff. View all posts by Jess