Helloooo summer!

That’s right, another school year has come and gone.

And although most students have been out since mid-May, the official first day of summer is June 21. 

What’s weird is that for the first time in about 25 years or so, I had no part in it. Not really.

I didn’t think it would matter to me, but after a multitude of posts and pictures about end-of-year events, proms, graduations, teacher appreciations, etc., I must admit, I feel slightly melancholy. 

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not like I wish to go back in time to experience those things again. And it’s not like everything associated with those events was stress-free. But in some strange way, I feel like my phone, in the past few months, is down AT LEAST 1,000 pictures compared to last year’s count. 

There’s still a lot to celebrate and photograph with adult children, of course, but it’s a lot harder to show them and their accomplishments off. Mainly because they suddenly have rules about how many pictures of them I “am allowed” to take, what can or cannot be posted to social media, and whether they’ll be smiling in the picture or looking annoyed as heck that I even had the cojones to ask that of them.

I suppose they’re partially right when they call me out for taking too many, considering that if you look to the bottom of my photo app, the number that appears there seems to imply I have more than 78,000 pictures, plus 2,000+ videos, saved. 

What? That’s not normal? Oh well . . . I suppose I’m a picture fanatic; what can I say? And not just pictures of/with my kids, either. I have thousands of sunrise/sunset, cloud, space shuttle launch, nature-related, clothing, friend, work-related, vacation, food, selfie, pet dogs, and family pics in the mix. And I refuse to feel ashamed!

Are there support groups for people who can’t resist whipping out their phone for even the slightest occasion, sight, or event – people like me, who feel dejected when they miss a photo op?

I already pay $10 per month for extra space, but one day, I need to figure out how to safely transfer all my photos/videos onto ‘the cloud’ or external drive from my phone, since a message keeps popping up saying my storage is finally almost full. Am I the only one that feels nervous about that? Also, God forbid I should lose my phone!

Call me old – actually don’t – but I kind of miss the days of traditional cameras.

Maybe one day, I’ll just do a MASSIVE photo dump onto Facebook and risk being unfriended by everyone I know!

Until then, just go with the flow, say ‘cheeeese’ and smile!