September 2020 was a strange time

September 2020 was a strange time. The world had stopped, our usual days had disappeared, and for six months this little guy became my full-time sidekick.

Today he’s going back to school. It feels surreal. The weeks blurred together until we stopped counting them.

I know he’s nervous. So much has changed. But like everything, this will settle, and school will feel ordinary again soon.

He told me he’d want to be homeschooled

He told me he’d want to be homeschooled, but he’d miss his friends too. He wanted both. I’m not sure full-time homeschooling is for me, but these months gave me something I wouldn’t trade. A closer look at his world, and the chance to watch his creativity take shape.

Kids have a way of teaching us things when we least expect it. If you’ve ever stopped to listen, you’ll know what I mean. I wrote about some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from kids here: Unlocking the Wisdom of Kids.

He’s always loved art. Drawing, painting, it comes naturally to him. But over these months I saw creativity show up in other ways too. In how he solved problems. In how he saw things. In the hours he spent in the garden, soaked through, completely lost in his own world.

I’ve spent years photographing moments like that for other families

I’ve spent years photographing moments like that for other families. The unposed, in-between moments that mean everything later. This time it was my own son in front of the camera, and it reminded me why I do this work.

One day, these will be the photos we look back on.

I’ll miss having him home all day. But I’m grateful for the pause, and for everything these six months showed me.