Go ahead and remove my name from the Mother-of-the-Year Ballot

When I was a little tike, I loved The Baby-Sitter's Club books. I read all of them. Even the Jr. Club books (and those were lame). So, needless to say, I was a pretty dedicated member of the Ann M. Martin fan club. In one book (#33 Claudia & the Great Search--google it), Claudia is convinced that she is adopted for a variety of reasons, one of which is that her parent's don't have as many pictures of her childhood as her older sister.

Now that I've taken you through a second grade book report, I'll explain what made me think of that story. Our sweet Lizzie is adorable. She is sweet. She has the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen. And, me, her pathetic mother, have a few handfuls of pictures of her.

When Halle was 8 months old, I had a few thousand pics of every possible baby moment available. When Chase came, my documentation slowed significantly, but there are still lots of pictures of most of Chase's babyhood.

I have to remind myself to take pictures of Lizzie. I don't pack the camera around most of the time. If I did, Chase would bury it in the sandbox, or squirt it with the hose. To me, that's a pretty good excuse.

So, one day, when Lizzie comes up to me and asks why Halle & Chase photo pile trumps hers, I'll hand her a really old, ragged copy of The Baby-Sitter's Club because I'm pretty sure that Claudia's parents gave her some good, loving advice at the end of that book.

Isn't it amazing how "literature" can help us out! Thank you, Miss Ann M. Martin.