Back to School
The first day back to school is like no other day of the year. When I was a kid, it was so hard to let go of summer. Riding my bike, going swimming, playing with the kids on the block until it was past dark. Summer was the best – it still is!
But somehow all the preparation for the first day of school made the transition a little easier. We’d go shopping for school supplies, checking o all the items on the list from the teacher: pencils, crayons, notebook paper, ruler . . . I loved all those cool folders you could choose from. Pretty much your pencils and pens all looked like everyone else’s, but your folders showed your true fan passions: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Power Rangers, Spiderman or that old standby, Superman. If we were lucky, the new book bag and lunch box would match the superhero folders! The girls all got folders and book bags with latest Disney movie princesses, and even though those characters don’t do much for me, my daughters sure love them.
My little girls LOVE shopping, so even though they’re not in school yet, they’re drawn to the dazzle of the school supply aisle. Because we have sat through the DVD about 700 times, I am figuring this fall’s Disney fashion trend will be “Frozen.” There are “Frozen” tee-shirts and tchotchkes everywhere I go.
Of course, once all the school supplies and clothes are bought, the real fun begins. I remember unwrapping the pencils, pencil sharpener, pens, glue, etc. and arranging everything in my pencil case. Then packing the pencil case and paper and folders into the new book bag – all ready to go even though school wasn’t going to start for a week. The night before school started, Mom made us set out our clothes so we’d be able to get up and dressed fast – she knew we’d be hard to get out of bed after sleeping in all summer long.
A few weeks into the school year, Picture Day arrives. When I was a kid, all the boys had to get fresh haircuts, and all the girls wore their favorite outfits to school that day. My wife is a teacher, and she assures me things haven’t changed! School pictures are like a rite of passage. In their Kindergarten pictures, the kids are almost so cute you can’t stand it. Then there are the gawky middle grade pictures where the boys always seem a little disheveled and the girls a little self-conscious. Then there are the too- cool-for-school 7th and 8th grade pictures. Everyone has a school picture they have either already destroyed or wish they could destroy – mine was 6th grade. You know which one you hate. What all school pictures have in common it that they’re straight- on shots, head-and-shoulders . . . You almost have to strain to remember that there was a lively personality hidden behind that sti smile.
It would be so great to have a photo booth at Picture Day! The photo strips could have the name of the school or the school logo, and the year. Kids could strike di erent poses – big grins, sweet smiles, beaming faces, little smirks. Decades later, those pictures would still be full of charm and fun – and really great childhood memories. I’ll have to see what I can do about that…
Happy Father’s Day
I’m really looking forward to Father’s Day this year. Not because I need a new tie or because I want to eat my Cheerios in bed (though I would like a nice long nap that afternoon, if any of my roommates are reading this.) I’m looking forward to Father’s Day because I appreciate how lucky I am to be a dad. I know, this is where you go, “Awwww.” But it’s me who’s going, “Awwww” — as in awwwwesome.
For a long time, I was a pilot for a regional airline. Even though I didn’t fly those long transcontinental or international flights that kept me away from home for days at a time, my schedule took me to cities around the Midwest, and my hours were pretty long and irregular. A few years ago, I started Chicago Memory Booth as a side gig. As much as I love this job, it kept me away from home even more.
While I was building my careers, my beautiful family was growing. My wife and I have three children, two young daughters and a son who was born last September. Even though I spent as much time with them as I could, I was always working, always rushing, always wishing I was there to see the kids doing all the silly and fun things my wife snapped photos of with her phone.
Ironically, operating Chicago Memory Booth put me in touch with just how much I was missing. I was taking photos some of the happiest of moments that people ever share — weddings, graduation and anniversary parties. Would I ever find the time to get in front of the camera to give my wife a movie star kiss, or dress in silly hats and glasses with my glammed up little girls, or simply hold my son and smile?
Yep, I was jealous. But what could I do — quit my day job?
The more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me. So 15 months ago, I gave up flying to become a work-at-home-dad and focus full time on Chicago Memory Booth. I’m not going to lie, the adjustment hasn’t been easy. But I’m not alone. Work-at- home-dads are becoming more common all the time, and we’re finding more ways to build careers and expand our earning power. Even though the world has changed a lot since the “Mad Men” era when men worked around the clock and women took care of the house and kids, there’s still an expectation that dads will take care of their families. I’m glad that the definition of what it means to “take care of your family” has changed, too. It’s important to go to your daughter’s soccer games and know which is your son’s favorite stuffed animal.
Here are some of the things I’ve discovered since I became a work-at-home-dad:
1. Even though it’s a lot of work to make a business successful, doing what you love and doing it so you can spend more time with the people you love makes all the stress and hard work worth it.
2. Just like the people who sit in front of the camera in my photo booth, I may not always be smiling when the camera snaps the picture, but life doesn’t always happen when you’re “ready.” And that just makes the images more interesting.
3 to infinity… Having the flexibility to hang out with my kids while they’re young is really awwwwesome. You want to see the pictures of them on my phone?
So, to all you dads out there – no matter where you work — Happy Father’s Day!
March 23, 2014 Chicago Memory Booth had the honor of presenting the Slo Mo Booth at the wedding expo. We met couples that got engaged the week before to others who were getting married in a month or two. Here is a video of the couples as they checked out the slo mo booth.
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