Parental Mythology

is made of photos such as these. Since I take pictures of them every single time they are nice to each other (a fairly rare occurrence), I will be able, in later years, to tell their children that they were always nice to each other, and back it up with photographic proof.


Check out that monster train track (three loops and another line for the train station). I will be able to tell them how they worked together to make that, and conveniently forget that I helped or that they kept arguing over who was breaking it or who was in the way. They will not need to know how many pictures I had to take to get one of them both looking in my general direction and more or less smiling.

Ah, yes. I will look back on these as pure, unvarnished truth in later years, and tell all the other young mothers to "not wish the time away" because "these days are precious" and all those other pieces of trite, unsolicited advice that make you want to tear your hair out when you're in the thick of it. That shall be my reward for all of us making it through these years alive.