“In the modern way of knowing, there have to be images for something to become “real.” Photographs identify events. Photographs confer importance on events and make them memorable.” Susan Sontag

 swimming pool roof

Like many parents, I spend a decent chunk of my weekend waiting for classes or activities to finish. And if you’re like me, you spend a lot of this time staring at various roofs.

 

poolside

Or at the wet concrete, where toddlers toddle past, despite the pleas of their parents to walk! The signs say don’t run. Beyond this are the evenly cordoned off pool lanes, each facilitating a specific type of class or purpose.

 

auditorium

Then there are the auditoriums; these fat vats of space, where the silver roof insulation winks down at the players.

 

basketball ring

Where our kids are instructed to make the goal … attempt a goal … or, oh, that was a good try, mate. Well done. Next time.

It’s the participation that matters.

 

basketball lines

These lines, these rules, will come in time. Perhaps sooner than we can imagine. The messy play of childhood will soon be a memory.

 

mirror ball

Then there are the times of fun, like roller skating on Valentines Day underneath a mirror ball.

 

light show

When a silhouette on a wall transfixes the one taking the pictures.

“There is no final photograph.” Susan Sontag.

She is correct.

For it all repeats itself next weekend.

karen andrews

Karen Andrews is the creator of this website, one of the most established and well-respected parenting blogs in the country. She is also an author, award-winning writer, poet, editor and publisher at Miscellaneous Press. Her latest book is Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity