Happy New Year!

Welcome, friends, to the first week of 2021! We can’t remember a new year that was met with as much excitement as this one.

Let us join in the voices sharing peace, love, hope, and excitement for this new year. While we are at it, let’s all take a moment to think about what we want most out of the new year. Likely, all of us experienced a shift in 2020. Shifting priorities. Shifting schedules. A new pace of life for ourselves and for our families.

For us, the many shifts that last year brought helped to reinforce what we value most. And it doubled our commitment to celebrating the simple moments of childhood and family life.

Traditionally, at Portraits that Move, we choose a word to focus on at the start of the new year. Two years ago, we chose celebrate. At the time, we had no idea how perfect a word it was. “Celebrate” continues to guide our work, and our perspective. Focusing on the importance - and beauty - of celebration has been a tremendous help in getting us through the challenges that this past year brought our way..

The weight of feelings, the uncertainty, even the hopefulness with which we greet 2021 all feel bigger than one word can encompass. So, as we embark on 2021 together, instead of choosing a word to share with you, we are sharing a promise. Our promise is to remain steadfast in documenting and honoring the moments that make up our family lives, and our individual lives. We commit to doing all we can to helping you document, preserve, honor, celebrate, and stay connected to those moments.

After all, these are the moments we remember when our loved ones are gone, when our circumstances change when we awaken to gratitude, and when we seek peace, hope, and joy.

How can we help you document and honor your memories? Is it through one of our videos or montages? Or is there something else you need that we can help you with? Share your ideas. Tell us your dreams.

3 Questions to Ask Your Kids Right Now

We are always eager to share new ways to connect with kids, and to get them talking. Helping to create space for children to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, feelings, perspectives and creativity, is one of the most important things that we do as filmmakers. And as people.

Our clients share that it is also a big part of what makes our Portraits that Move films so special They appreciate our ability to bring out who their kids truly are in this moment. And, as time goes by, they appreciate more and more, the ability they have to return to these moments through film.

Today, we take some of the lessons that we have learned, and some of the tips we have for conversation starters with kids, and apply them to our current shelter in place home lives. Even though, in many households, we are all together all the time, we might not be connecting with each other. We might not be communicating with each other at all.

Right now, that communication is important. It is encouraging, it is uplifting, and it is healing. And it is one small way that we can help our children through a time that is confusing and isolating.

What is one thing that you have liked about this time?

This is a complicated time for all of us, and a time of grief for many. However, that does not mean that it is without moments of joy, celebration, or peace. Ask your children what they are discovering about themselves, about you, and about your family.

Learn from them what it feels like to have less to do. Does it make them feel more relaxed to be more still? Are your kids returning to activities that they had given up because of busy schedules or social pressures? Are they taking risks and trying new things because they have the time and space to do so?

Hearing what your kids are appreciating, what valuable things they are learning, and what really matters to them now is helpful not just in making sure that everyone in your house is as safe and well as can be. It gives you valuable insight into who they are and how they are in their own skin and in their own space.. And it could help you make better plans when things do open up again.

Where are you most looking forward to going when this is over?

This is a fun question to ask, especially while your sitting around the dinner table. It gives you and your children the chance to talk about favorite places and activities. Whether it's finally going to a baseball game again, enjoying a meal at a favorite restaurant, or taking a ride down a slide at the playground, talking about what we miss in this context is safe and joyful.

It also lets us peek at what our kids are really craving during this time of social distancing. That can help us create moments for them at home that give them support. The key to asking a question like this is to leave it open and allow it to start a natural flow of conversation. If we can avoid getting bogged down in what we are missing and, instead, share the memories, laughter, and excitement connected to the places we love, that is all the better.

On the other hand, if this does bring up thoughts about the unfairness of our current circumstances, or the losses that come with missing out on end of school year and other traditions, that is ok. These feelings need to be voiced, and they need to be shared.

Our children should know that it is safe and appropriate to feel sad about these losses, and that, if they are experiencing a kind of grief over it, they do not need to endure those feelings alone.

If you had known this time of lockdown was coming, what would you have made sure to do before it started?

This question might be a bit more difficult for kids to answer. If they struggle with it, or seem hesitant to share, now is the time to share your answer to this question.

Talking about what they would have done (or what you would have done) to prepare helps you to know about anything that might be troubling them, so you can help them solve it. Maybe there is a book that they feel bad about not having brought home from school. Sometimes, healing is a simple as a quick Amazon order!

Maybe they worry that they did not have a chance to tell friends or teachers how much they meant to them. For the many children who will not be returning to school this year, they may fear (and rightly so) that they will not easily be able to connect with these people who were part of their everyday life ever again. And certainly not in the same way. Learning that your child is dealing with these feelings gives you the opportunity to come up with ideas together for how to connect with friends or teachers virtually (or even by mail). It helps you plan projects you could do to recognize and celebrate your child's class or classmates.

It also gives you the chance to talk openly and honestly about loss, about feelings of unfairness, and about the struggle to understand and accept that some things are beyond our control. The most important lesson in all of this is to find ways to help your child talk with you, to voice their concerns, and to tell their stories.

Their stories, their special moments, their joy... none of that needs to stop because so much of our daily lives came to a halt. Celebrate and honor your children by being present for them, by listening to them, and by helping them share with you.

Balancing Joy and Challenges

As difficult as all of this has been - and it seems the difficulty comes in waves - we find the greatest comfort comes in the moments we spend calmly and joyfully with the ones we love. And so, that is driving home even more, the importance of remembering and honoring the moments, big and small, with our families. The milestone moments that we can recall when things feel most difficult, and the every day moments that make up our family life and our shared history, are what we seem to crave the most.

We acknowledge that this time of social isolation is especially difficult for families who have spent a tremendous amount of time, energy, and love preparing for upcoming events like bar and bat mitzvahs. Suddenly, it feels like the months and years of dreaming, and planning, and working, are ripped away. The creativity, enthusiasm and strength that we are witnessing in the face of this disappointment (felt by children and parents in equal measure), is inspiring us to work harder and to do more.

Some families have used Zoom and other technology to host virtual bar mitzvah celebrations. Others are putting the party plans on hold and coming up with even more fun, creative ways to celebrate when we can finally all be together again to revel in our traditions, and our families. Sharing new stories, and re-telling all of our old favorites.

Along with our clients, we have been finding ourselves taking a little more time to pour over our own family memories. We have been bringing out photos, from physical photos to the longer and longer camera rolls on our phones and other devices. What we are finding - and we are hearing the same from clients and friends - is that looking back over these memories (even those from the recent past that is starting to feel a bit far away) is helping us to feel gratitude and joy. And this gratitude and joy helps to balance out, if not push away entirely, the frustration that current circumstances are often creating.

In fact, these small, isolated moments go a long way into helping us tell - and connect to - our family stories. If you have found yourself looking through photos and longing to connect to and celebrate your family , now is the perfect time to work with us on creating a Montage Video. Without the ability to shoot our Signature Portrait Videos or Mitzah Movies due to social distancing, our Portraits that Move Team has been hard at work on more montages. For families with a bar mitzvah coming up, now is an ideal time to get started on making a Mitzvah Montage with Portraits that Move. Everything from the initial consultation, to the Montage creation process, is easy to do virtually. And with a little extra time with your family, it is a good time to gather around and review photos, swap stories, and select your favorites to share.

In addition to our Mitzvah Montages, we have been creating new montage videos for birthday and retirement celebrations, and other events that families plan to hold virtually and in person. It fills us with joy to be able to be a part of sharing and celebrating your family’s story in this way, especially now. We invite you to reach out to us to plan a montage, or simply to share a story.

Wishing you good health and an abundance of joy.

Working, Schooling and Connecting at Home

Our “new normal” is feeling very new and anything but normal. With parents working from home and kids learning at home, it can be hard to balance our time, space and energy.

We have put together a few ideas that we hope will make this time a little easier - and more restful - for you. And we would love to hear what you are doing. How are you using your space in creative ways, what are you doing to keep anxiety at bay for the children and adults in your household? Have you discovered any special, unexpected moments of connection in all of this togetherness? Jump over to our Facebook Page and share your stories, thoughts and ideas.

With these questions in mind, this is some of what we are learning (and we certainly are learning… a little more every day).

Make a (Flexible) Schedule

Children in particular thrive on routines, so this disruption of their normal schedules can leave them feeling anxious, unfocused, and confused. Be patient with their reactions and give them time to adjust.

At the same time, set up a new schedule that works for your children and your family. If you are sharing devices for distance learning, make sure that you understand who needs to do what, when, and for how long. Build the daily must-dos that your children have for their schoolwork into a structured day that is similar to (but does not strive to be exactly the same as) their typical school day.

Emma Matthews/Unsplash

While the schedule will help to save your sanity and go a long way to keeping your kids feeling calm and cared for, do remember that this new normal of ours offers us the chance to slow down our pace a bit. After all, we are not rushing anywhere or building in time for commutes. Use that extra time to add outdoor activities, more creative time, and longer periods of time to accomplish daily tasks. This contributes to an easier flow of the day and helps to reduce some of the stress that starts to sneak up on us when we are trying to apply our typical ways of doing things to a situation that is anything but typical.

Practice a New Skill

Speaking of using the extra time that we have been given, think about those projects that we are constantly putting off because we have so many other things to do… so many other places to be. Pick up an old instrument and refresh your skills. Tackle a home decorating project. Invite your kids to do the same.

Work on language learning, either as a supplement to a language your child is learning in school, or as a brand new family adventure. Apps like Memrise, Rosetta Stone, and many others offer great options.

Tanaphong Toochinda/Unsplash

Gather in the kitchen and learn how to cook a new type of cuisine. Invite your children to research some of the foods you are making, to decorate the table according to a theme, and to help you create a festive meal.

Learning new skills together helps us to stay connected to each other in a low stress way. You can support each other well when you learn from and with each other, as a team.

Honor Each Others’ Needs

Experiences like this one bring out people’s personalities, needs, preferences, and fears in a pointed way. Be attuned to that for every member of your family, and for yourself. This time of social distancing can be especially challenging for extroverts.

If your child thrives on social interaction, come up with safe, fun ways for them to connect with their friends, classmates, and extended family members. Consider a virtual play date on Skype or Facetime. Allow your kids a little extra time to make a phone call to a friend. Encourage them to write old fashioned letters to friends and family members, to draw pictures, or invent games that they can share with each other via snail mail or email.

Ben Mullins/Unsplash

Consider also that, if you are like many of us, in addition to balancing the needs of the children in your home, you also must account for the needs of the adults in your home. With parents working from home, it is difficult not to bring the stress and energy of a busy or difficult work day to the other members of the family. Be mindful of deadlines, work styles, and learning styles of everyone in your house. If mom needs to be on a conference call at 2:00 p.m., that might be a good time for the kiddos to take a break with a favorite TV show or movie, or to do their daily reading for school.

Communication is key to making sure everyone’s needs are understood and accounted for. Consider holding a brief morning or evening meeting to discuss the must dos, should dos, and concerns about the day to come. Work together to plan your day around that, and remember to let each other know that you value them and that you - and we - are stronger together.

Elizabeth Eames, March 18, 2020

A Message of Encouragement

Friends, we hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. With the school closures and work-from-home mandates around the world, and here in New York, it has us thinking about all of our layers of connections to family and friends, and how precious life's small moments are.

This week, we had planned to share more tips on bar/bat mitzvah planning and to dive into some of the behind the scenes secrets to creating mitzvah videos that boost your tween's confidence when they need it most. We are excited to share these ideas and tips with you. But we're moving that conversation to next week.

Today, we are here to invite you to take advantage of some of the extra moments that you have with your family in whatever way honors your family story and the things that matter most to the people you love the most.

For some of us, that means grabbing a favorite book off the shelf and reading with our kids (no matter how old they are!). For others, it means snuggling up on the coach and watching some of our favorite family moments on video. For others, it may mean cooking together, playing a family game you never have time for, or taking a few extra minutes to share - and listen to - each others stories.

However you use your extra moments, we do hope you can enjoy them because, despite the fears and despite the things we cannot control, there are always moments, no matter how small, that we can savor and celebrate.

Here's to you and your moments, friends. May they abound and may they give you strength and joy. Always.

Giving Tuesday Ideas for 2019

When Giving Tuesday comes around, it can be difficult to decide where - and how - you want to give. We have compiled a list of some of our favorite organizations. On this busy day during this ever-busy season, we invite you to get to know these organizations that are close to our hearts.

Please consider giving to them, or to a cause that it is most meaningful to you. May your day be filled with generosity and gratitude!

KIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION

The mission of the the Kids in Need Foundation is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn and succeed in the classroom by providing free school supplies nationally to students most in need.

We are extremely proud to be part of helping the Kids in Need Foundation share their stories.

MANNA

MANNA, a Pennsylvania-based organization, uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. By providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education, we empower people to improve their health and quality of life.

LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION

As the Lustgarten Foundation explains, its mission is to cure pancreatic cancer by funding scientific and clinical research related to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pancreatic cancer; by providing research information and clinical support services to patients, caregivers and individuals at high risk; and by increasing public awareness and hope for those dealing with this disease.

WOODS

Woods is a multi-service population health management and advocacy organization that along with its five affiliate organizations provides innovative, comprehensive and integrated health, education, housing, workforce, behavioral health and case management services to more than 18,000 children and adults in the intellectual and developmental disability, child welfare, behavioral and brain trauma public health sectors who have complex and intensive medical and behavioral healthcare needs.

* All mission language about the organizations has been obtained directly from each organization's website.

3 Organization Projects to Tackle While Kids are at Camp

When the kids are away at camp it’s an ideal time for you to tackle some home organization projects that help tone down the clutter and allow you a few moments to spend walking down memory lane.

We have put together three simple organization projects that, with a small amount of time and effort, can help you get more organized and create systems that make documenting your family life (and not the mess that comes with it!) easier.

Organize Old Clothes

Kids grow so quickly, and that means the piles of outgrown clothes can easily take over the space in drawers and closets. To tame the clothing clutter, we suggest sorting old or outgrown clothes into two boxes.

Fill the first box with clothes that you can donate to local organizations like Goodwill, centers for women and children in need, or non-profit groups that help refugees. When you are donating clothing, make sure that it is still wearable and comfortable. Remember, no matter a person’s level of need, they still deserve to have items that remind them that they are special and cared for. For clothing that is not wearable, along with old sheets and towels, think about donating to a local animal shelter.

Fill the second box with those pieces of clothing that mean the most to you and your family. These don’t have to be the most stylish, or best quality pieces. They can include the t-shirt your son wore when he took his first steps, or your daughter’s favorite dress that she wore every day until she grew out of it. Gather all these treasured items and send them to a company like Project Repat, and have a blanket made.

Organize Photos

If you’re anything like us, you have thousands of digital photos across multiple devices. To make sure that you don’t lose photos of the moments and memories you most want to document, create a file organization system that works for you. We suggest organizing by folders. You can sort by year, and create sub-folders based on time (monthly, quarterly, etc.) or you can organize by favorite places, milestones, or themes.

Do you vacation at Cape Cod every summer? Consider making a Cape Folder. Within that folder, create sub-folders for each year. That way, you can see how you and your family have changed, how special places have changed, and how the most important thing have remained the same. Think of the act of organizing your photos as a way of documenting and honoring the moments those photos capture.

To organize printed photos, consider using albums or decorative boxes for the photos you haven’t framed. Keep these boxes and albums around the house in family areas so that they are always available for you and your kids to take out and look at together.

When organizing photos, keep in mind how you plan to use them in the future. Make it easy to find your favorites and the photos that best tell the stories of your kids’ lives and your family life so they are on hand when it’s time to create a Mitzvah Montage or to add to a Portrait Video.

Organize Toys

Organizing toys goes a long way to cutting down the clutter, but it can be a difficult experience for kids. Take some time while they are away at camp to sort through toys, starting with those that they haven’t played with much, or toys and games that they never even opened.

Don’t get rid of too much without their consent. It’s important to make sure that your kids feel involved in, but not overwhelmed by the process. Sort the toys as best you can without them, then look through individual boxes or bags - with no pressure - after they come home.

Come up with some strategies that make letting go of old toys easier. This can include putting together a pile of toys to pass along to younger relatives and friends. Find organizations together that your kids would like to donate their gently used toys to (check what organizations accept what kinds of toys - many will not take stuffed animals). Set aside some toys for your kids to sell to help reach their savings goals. They could join up with friends and do a group yard sale or stoop sale - the other moms will be thrilled that you are helping them clear their clutter, too!

When you are organizing, try to be intentional. Consider it part of acknowledging your family’s history and experiences. Feel confident putting things back into the world, after their time of service to you is over. But don’t feel bad about wanting to hold onto a few things, to turn them into memory pieces, or to keep them close to help you remember the moments that have meant the most to you.

Lucky Summer

I wonder if it’s because the moments in summer tend to be a bit longer, that we want to hold onto them even more. The rush to get out the door slows down. If we’re lucky enough to get some time off with our families, the destination becomes the beach, the pool, or a treasured family home, rather than work and school.

Photo E Eames

The days are longer and brighter this time of year. And it seems as if our eyes bend a bit to that lens. We look for the brighter, longer moments. We feel the need to hold onto this time of year because it feels at once apart from our daily lives and essential to the lives we are working so hard every day to build for ourselves and our children.

Summer is the time, too, when (again, if we are lucky) we get to reconnect with extended family and not-often-seen friends. We share meals, and drinks, and adventures with the people who make us who we are, make us glad to have this life to celebrate. Even though, often, these are not the people with whom we share the bulk of our lives. We share the bright days with them. The memory making days.

Photo by E Eames

All of this makes summer a unique time for us at Portraits that Move. So much of our mission is to celebrate the every day. The moments between these milestone days. All the days and days worth of moments that got your son or daughter to this summer day when their great aunt marvels, as if on cue, at how much they have grown.

Photo by Kevin Delvecchio on Unsplash

For us, as we continue our mission of celebrating our shared moments and documenting our mundane and marvelous lives, we look at this season of milestone moments - the family trips, the camp letters home, the plans for the coming school year and Mitzvah season - and we recognize that nature is helping us do our work in a pointed and beautiful way. It is brightening the light. It is setting the stage. It is giving us all a little extra time to recognize and celebrate the moments that we create and the moments that find us, if we are lucky enough.

Summer Snaps with Portraits that Move!

We’re sharing Summer Snaps throughout the season to help us remember to be mindful of all the moments the season has to offer.

For us, this is a fun way to share our mission to celebrate every moment because every moment matters. And it’s a great way to stay in touch with each other and gather joy from our collected adventures, discoveries, and quiet moments in time during one of the most beautiful seasons of the year.

Photo by #PTMsummersnapper @elizabeth.eames

So, take us along on your adventures! Snap a photo and share on Instagram. Tag @portraitsthatmove #ptmsummersnaps so we can all celebrate together. If we all join in, the PTM Team will launch a special contest with a super fun promotion in August… so stay tuned, and start snapping!

A Month for Moms

At Portraits that Move, we celebrate moms and the moments they make with their kids every day. So when Mother’s Day rolls around we get really excited.

In honor of the first day of May, we are kicking off our celebration of Mother’s Day today with a roundup of some of our Mother’s Day posts. Today, we’re sharing everything from creative Mother’s Day project ideas for kids (spoiler alert: they require no parental assistance!) to how to cope when Mother’s Day just feels too hard.

Let the Kids Take the Lead

Find new ways to celebrate Mother’s Day with family and friends! Talk to your kids about the women in your circle – your family, friends and neighbors, – and ask them how they want to connect with and celebrate the women who help to shape their lives.

As is so often the case when we take the extra time to have conversations like this with our children, the answers may surprise you.  The list could include grandmothers, neighbors, godparents or teachers. It is always a moment of discovery when you let your children lead conversations about what means the most to them. 

By engaging with your children in this way, you learn who is important to them and what they are observing about their family and community.  You also come to learn how your children are practicing empathy and gratitude as they grow and change.

Mother’s Day Message

We love looking back at this video of a Portraits that Move family - watch to the end to hear how “my mom is special to me.”

If you’re thinking about scheduling a video shoot or gifting a Portraits that Move film for Mother’s Day, let us know!

When Mother’s Day is Hard

As much as we love celebrating our fellow moms, we understand all too well that Mother's Day can be a painful holiday for many.  Many of us have experienced a complicated journey to motherhood, or have found that our motherhood experiences are in sharp contrast with our expectations.  We know that Mother’s Day, more often than not, can be a reminder of our losses more than a celebration of our lives.

For these reasons and so many more, as Mother’s Day approaches, we are working hard to pause, to create space for feeling, working through, and sharing all of our emotions surrounding this holiday that ends up being much more than a Hallmark moment, whether or not we had planned for that.

How Do You Celebrate?

Head over to Facebook and tell us how you are planning to celebrate Mother’s Day this year. Whether it is a quite day of reflection or a loud, messy celebration, know that we are holding space for you and for your loved ones on this day and always.

Celebrating 5 Moments that Changed Us

Today, we’re recapping our 5 Moments in 5 Days anniversary celebration. It was hard for us to pick only five moments, because all of the moments we have created, documented and celebrated over the last five years have filled us with joy.

Each of the examples that we chose focuses on our mission of documenting the every day moments that matter to families. They demonstrate how we make and honor history, milestones, legacy and new beginnings every day,. This is exactly what families do, no matter their shape, size, or circumstances. We hope that you enjoy reliving these moments as much as we do, and we are grateful that you continue to share and celebrate your moments with us.

When the Little Moments Add up to the Story of Childhood for Two Siblings

We love working with families like this one year after year. This family hired us to create their first video the year Portraits that Move launched, and we have been documenting their lives ever since. What a wonderful way to preserve the moments that make up a family’s history, as those moments unfold.

Here's a look at the first film we created for them

And here is the most recent film..

Much gratitude to this family who keeps us smiling year after year!

Bringing Together Years of Small Moments for one Big Mitzvah Montage

All of these moments make up the stories of our lives. Mitzvahs provide the perfect opportunity to celebrate that life as it is growing and changing.

In this Mitzvah Montage, we take time to look back on these moments, to celebrate them, and to share them with friends and family who come together to support and honor a child during a milestone moment.

Capturing 3 Generations in One Film

What an amazing opportunity it was to create a film that brought the lives of three generations of one family together in celebration and joy.

As filmmakers, when you work with multiple generations of the same family, you are able to see the large and small ways that each individual’s experiences, observations, and personalities come together to create a complete, rich story of a family.

From the great grandparent down to the newest family member, we are able to see how history, tradition and love come together to create a story that is entirely unique to them, and that, at the same time, resonates with us all.

Meeting Baby, Meeting the World

From the eldest generations to the newest, we delight in bringing moments to life on film. Our Baby Videos are precious, especially when we are able to captured firsts - like baby’s first time touching snow - on video. So much more than a set of infant or baby photos, these moving portraits give us the sights and sounds of a baby. And they allow parents to talk about what it is like in those first few months in an honest, open, and joyful way.

It is often said because it is so true, time moves more quickly than we can imagine. And as much as we are convinced we will remember every detail of our baby’s first months and years, we don’t. They are gone in a flash, and it is so gratifying to have something to look back on to remember exactly how it looked, how it felt, what it sounded like when there was a new baby in your home.

Celebrating Healing

One of the most profoundly gratifying and joyful experiences we have is creating videos for our Portraits that Heal project. In these videos, we honor and celebrate the lives of children who live with chronic, life threatening illnesses.

In addition to demonstrating the resiliency, tenacity, and hope that these children and their families embody every day, our Portraits that Heal videos also remind us, and those who watch them, about the beauty, simplicity and joy of living every day. We are inspired and amazed by these children and we are deeply honored to be able to preserve their lives and their words on film..

Share Your Joy with Us

Contact Portraits that Move to book a video celebrating your family’s daily life, and the history you are making.

3 Things for Busy Moms to Do this Spring

Spring is almost here, in spite of the chill in the air here in NYC. So we’re sharing a new approach to Spring Cleaning, tailored for busy moms like us.

This spring, we’re finding ways of celebrating the every day, because “every moment matters” is more than how we describe our work, it is how we live our lives.

Stop asking "how was your day"

Avoid this question if you really want answers!

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

To really connect with your kids, and to get the conversation going, try some of our tips from the start of the school year.

Are these strategies working for you? What are you doing to start quality conversations with your kids? And how are you finding the time?

Choose one simple way to connect with your kids

You don’t have to be Mary Poppins to create special moments for your kids. And you don’t have to plan elaborate vacations or custom play spaces to enjoy some time together.

In fact, even small interactions like cooking a meal together, sitting around the table (it doesn’t have to be a holiday!), watching their favorite TV show with them, or listening to them describe something that they love - a hobby, sport, art project or video game) - can go a long way.

Take some time for self-care

Remember the advice they give on planes to put on your oxygen mask before assisting others when things get hectic.

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

The spring season is often full of family events and major milestones (Mitzvahs, graduations, weddings). In all that excitement, and during all that preparation, the small moments that matter can get lost, especially if you’re not finding little ways to remind yourself that you matter. Practice self-care when you’re busy, not just when you feel like you have the space to carve out “me time.”

5 Things We Love about Portraits that Move

It’s our 5th Anniversary and we’re celebrating all week. Follow along and share your memories on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter this week as we celebrate 5 Small Moments that Mean the World to us. We’ll be highlighting one moment every day, from Tuesday through Saturday. We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane as much as we do.

Today, we kick off our week of celebration with 5 Things we love about Portraits that Move!

1. Celebrating Your Everyday Moments

For these past five years, we have lived by the mantra "every moment matters" and we are so happy to reflect that back to families through our Portrait Videos, Mitzvah Videos and annual holiday cards.

2. Listening to Kids’ Stories

What a thrill it is for us to work with families year after year and document families as they grow, and giving children a place to share their observations as their perspectives and interests change.

3. Being Part of Your Milestone Moments

It means so much to us when you include us in your milestone family moments like Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Creating our Mitzvah Movies and Mitzvah Montages gives us the opportunity to allow young people to share their stories and talk about what matters to them at a beautiful moment of growth and transformation.

The fact that we are able to be such an important part of your celebrations means the world to us, and we celebrate right along with every Mitzvah family that chooses Portraits that Move.

4. Creating Something that Stands the Test of Time

The days are short but the years are long, and we all need something to hold onto that reflects the character - the beauty, the joy, and the simplicity - of life's moments.

This is what we get to do, what we get to create for you, every day, year after year. No wonder we feel like celebrating!

5. Using Our Talents and Passion to Spread Healing and Happiness

First and foremost, we are storytellers, and we are so pleased to tell your stories on film. All of the awards do not compare to the notes we receive from parents, and the smiles we capture on film.

Thank you for five wonderful years. We are so very excited for many, many more!

Our Anniversary Gift to You

Join in on the anniversary fun with a special 15% off a Signature Portrait, Mitzvah Montage, or Mitzvah Movie when you contact us and book by Saturday, 3/2, at 10:00 p.m. EST.

2019 Word of the Year - Celebrate!

Do you choose a word of the year every new year? We are big fans of this practice. It helps us focus on a guiding principle that leads to our goals and reminds us to stay grounded in what matters as we start the new year.

Looking at all the opportunities and adventures that lie ahead in 2019, we know that this year at Portraits that Move, what we want to do most, is celebrate!

Celebrate Moments

Every moment matters, and every moment is worth celebrating. We don't know how many years we get in this life, or what may come our way. What we do know is that every year, and every day, is made up of moments small and large that connect us to each other, that are filled with joy, that remind us of gratitude.

This year will be filled with moments that make us smile and moments that lead to discoveries, for our children and for ourselves. We’ll have unexpected moments with our children that we look back on and realize were some of the most treasured experiences of our lives, even if those moments are small and simple.

All of this is worth celebrating. It's why we create our films for families, so that the can see and celebrate who they are right now. And so they have something to look back on to celebrate how they became who they are.

Celebrate Milestones

There is nothing like a milestone to ignite celebration, and the joy that parents feel watching their children grow, change, and thrive in the world. That's one of the reasons we love creating Mitzvah videos for families.

Our Mitzvah videos allow families to add a truly special element to a milestone day filled with joy, enthusiasm, and not a small amount of nostalgia (how often we hear from Mitzvah moms and dads that they can't believe how fast the time goes!).

The thing about celebrating is that it is so much more than the exuberance of a party, just like your child's Bar/Bat Mitzvah is about so much more than all of the perfect party details and exciting extras you have planned for your child and their friends. To truly celebrate our families, ourselves, our lives, is to look at life in all of its dimensions, the small moments and the milestone moments, and to realize how grateful we are for the life we have, for the joy and the challenges that fill our days.

Because time really does go too fast, and if we don't stop to celebrate who we are, where we have been, and where we are going, we will have missed out on the chance to celebrate how sweet and beautiful all of this is.

Celebrate Every Day

Clients, friends, family, that's our wish for you this new year. Find a way to celebrate each other, to celebrate with each other, every day.

We guarantee you will have better days because of it. And we can't wait to celebrate them with you!

Teach Kids Gratitude during the Holidays

Teaching kids gratitude during the holiday season can be a challenge. Sometimes it feels like we spend all of our energy on creating memorable holiday experiences, decorating things just-so, and finding the right gift (a few times over) for our favorite people. Then, as the season draws to a close, we realize that there is a lot of giving but not a lot of gratitude.

But it’s about more than gifts. As parents, we don’t need our kids to bend over backwards telling us how grateful they are for the things we give them. What we really want - the reason we jump headlong into the holiday craziness and wait on hours-long lines - is to make memories that our children will cherish. To start and continue traditions that make them happy, that remind them, and us, of how grateful we are to have each other.

We’ve gathered a few of our favorite posts to help you teach your kids about gratitude this season, and to keep the grateful vibes well into the new year.

Start a Daily Gratitude Practice with your Kids

I try to use gratitude in my home as a regular on-going conversation with my son.  When we focus on gratitude, it can create good feeling and closeness. Sometimes I will ask my son during dinner what happened in his day that made him feel grateful.

Other times as I am tucking him into bed, I will tell him the 5 things about my day that I am grateful for and ask him about his.

There are a lot of other ways to introduce gratitude into a conversation, to make it into a game and to keep it present.  I find that talking about what we are grateful for shifts things.  It makes the mood more positive, lighter and gentler…

Introduce Gratitude Games and Table Activities

I’m thinking of something that begins with the letter…

We all know the popular road trip game, where you work your way through the alphabet, guessing something that begins with each letter of the alphabet while the person who is “it” provides clues to the guessers.

Customize this game for your table. Take turns going clockwise around the table (or starting youngest to oldest). The first person who is “it” says “I’m grateful for something that begins with the letter A.” Each person around the table guesses what that is based on hints.

This is a fun, easy, and interactive way to share what you are thankful for. It is also a natural way to start a conversation around gratitude, and to teach you what little things matter to your loved ones.

Turn Your New Year’s Resolutions into Gratitude Intentions

Rather than list out resolutions, ways we want to be different, things we want to change about ourselves or our circumstances, we are choosing to focus on intention.  All of us at Portraits that Move are committing to living and working and observing with intention. 

Rather than a resolution to be more, to do more, to change this or that in a quest for a goal, this year, we are listening to that voice that reminds us to stop, to look at our life, at our work and at our goals and to determine how they align with our intention to find joy and to be grateful…

How are you practicing gratitude with your kids during the holiday season? Share with us on Facebook!

Giving Tuesday is a Day to Share Love and Gratitude

Today and every day, we are aware of the importance of giving in order to create moments of joy for others. This year, we compiled a list of non-profits that are giving beautiful gifts to individuals and communities through hard work and dedication.

Non-profits like these benefit from your generosity, and so do those they serve. Take a moment today to look at some of the work they are doing. We invite you to be inspired by the joy and healing they put out into the world.

Make a Wish Foundation

The Make a Wish Foundation is dear to the heart of our founder and executive producer, Susannah Ludwig, and the company that she created. Susannah’s early life was marked by multiple life saving surgeries.

This helped her to realize that every day is a gift and there is joy even in the smallest moments. The Make a Wish Foundation believes that “one moment changes everything.” The foundation helps to make wishes come true for children with critical illnesses, making treasured moments for children and their families.

Kids in Need Foundation

As a Board Member of Kids the Kids in Need Foundation, Susannah gets to see first hand the good work that this organization does in communities around the United States.

Kids in Need provides backpacks and school supplies for students living in poverty so that they are able to go to school confident and ready to learn. As Susannah shares, “it makes a huge difference for kids… you can see how having their own school supplies, something that may seem so small, improves their self esteem.”

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

Through Portraits that Heal, we have helped Alex’s Lemonade Stand share its mission to cure childhood cancer by sharing the stories of children the organization has helped.

Alex’s Lemonade stand, founded by parents who lost their daughter to cancer, supports funding for fighting childhood cancer by raising money for scientific research and by helping families who are living with cancer.

See more of Kaela’s Hero Story, created by Portraits that Heal.

Feeding Matters

Feeding Matters is committed to helping kids who have trouble eating. In addition to connecting to Susannah’s childhood surgeries and related challenges, the mission of helping children be nourished so they can thrive is an inspiring and important mission.

The organization “furthers advances in pediatric feeding disorder by accelerating identification, igniting research, and promoting collaborative care for children and families.” The work they do is not always recognized on a large national stage but it makes a tremendous impact on the children and families whose lives they change.

Manna

Manna, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is more than a food bank. The organization promotes therapeutic nutrition, working hard to connect those in need with healthy food. As the organization explains, Manna “uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal.” The Manna team does this by providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education… to improve their health and quality of life.”

Portraits that Move remembers Manna in a special way this Giving Tuesday. Founder Susannah Ludwig’s aunt, who passed away just before Thanksgiving, was a deeply involved volunteer with Manna. We encourage those who are moved to support the organization to do so in her memory.

Brooklyn Public Library

Libraries always need funding! The contributions they make to our local communities is incredible, though often unsung. From literacy programs for kids to job resources for adults, the Brooklyn Public Library is both a cultural center and a center of service for our communities.

How many small, special moments have you created with your kids in your neighborhood library? Help them keep making moments like these for our kids and our neighbors.

Arthur Project

The Arthur Project helps underserved middle school students. Providing mentoring to students at this critical juncture in their lives can help to transform their experience and put them on the path to health, safety, and success, as it did for the organization’s co-founder in her own life.

Susannah recently worked with Snapdragon Films to create a video for the Arthur Project and has been inspired by the work the organization does. The Arthur Project is a new non-profit tackling challenges in new and engaging ways.

The Three Questions to Ask Kids after Practice

It’s the season for sports and music and art classes. Back to School is in full swing and kids’ schedules are getting busier and busier. With that, comes more opportunity for good conversations and memorable storytelling that improve kids’ confidence and strengthen your bond.

Here’s a rundown of how to create those kinds of conversations, starting with a reminder to carve out time to talk to kids about their experiences, motivations, and emotions. When we are shuffling from activity to activity while trying to meet our own deadlines, finding time and space to have those conversations is hard.

Remember, it doesn’t take a long time to have a good conversation. Grab your moments and be intentional.

Start by asking these three questions when you pick up your kids from their next soccer practice or orchestra rehearsal.

What was the best part?

Focus on the positive. Asking your child to identify the best part of soccer practice encourages her to look for positive experiences, even if (especially if) the practice didn't go as smoothly as she wanted, or didn't live up to her expectations.

Photo by Jeffrey Lin on Unsplash

Taking a moment to assess an experience and find the good in it helps your child practice balance, gratitude and hopefulness. When you encourage your child to do this through conversation, you are helping them through the process and reminding them that they are not alone – you are there with them to celebrate and to support.

 “What was the best part” is the perfect first question because it gives your child something to celebrate, something good to share with you. It goes a long way to creating a safe, comfortable space for kids to talk to and connect with you.

Asking your child to share the best part of orchestra or soccer practice gives them a launch pad for a story and a path for a meaningful conversation. It gives you a glimpse into what matters to them, and what they value. This is the heart of real conversations. And it often makes for a great story!

How do you think you played?

This second question moves into the topics that are more difficult for your kids to talk about, but even more necessary for you to dig into together.

Be careful how you frame this question. If kids feel like they are being interrogated or judged, they shut down. Your conversation, your relationship, and their confidence suffer. 

This doesn't mean that kids don't want to share their challenges with parents - they do - but they want to do so in a way that does not make them feel more judged, or more embarrassed, than they may already feel. Sometimes your child leaves practice feeling vulnerable. If she ran into another player because the coach said "go right" and she went left, she may have been hurt, and she may have been laughed at. Don’t compound her negative feelings about herself or the situation. Let her take the lead in explaining the experience from her point of view and walk through how to address it together, carefully and respectfully.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

“How do you think you played” creates space for kids to communicate. It signals that you are interested in how they are playing because you care about them, and you care about the things that matter to them. You are not looking for a scouting report. Their answers don’t change how much you love them or how proud of them you are.

Everyone wants to get better - that's why they practice. Let your child know that you are not asking these questions because you want to see immediate results. He does not need to master every note in his orchestra piece today. You are engaged in the learning process, warts and all. You are present for their stories and you are ready to help them achieve their goals.

Part of achieving those goals is discovering what they need to work on. That’s why “how do you think you played” is a good way to help kids evaluate where they are and where they want to be without judgement or pressure. It is much more productive – for your conversation and for their development – than “what did you do wrong” or “why was the conductor yelling at you.”

It also gives you, as a parent, the opportunity to share your own stories. Kids love to hear about what parents were like when we were their age. If you can share an embarrassing story, or an example of how you faced a challenge, your child feels less alone and more encouraged. Remember, when you are sharing your stories, this is not the time to take over the conversation, to air out old grievances, or to show off. Let your child take the lead.

What are you looking forward to next time?

Look-ahead questions create interesting and honest conversations. When you ask your child what she is looking forward to next time, you are encouraging her to move on from disappointments and build on successes. And you are doing that without commanding her to “move on” or “work harder.”

Photo by Fede Casanova on Unsplash

Even more importantly, a look-ahead question like this signals to your kids that you are with them for the long haul. You did not start this conversation so that they could deliver you a report that you can file away. You did not ask them to open up to you simply to fill the time on the way home. You are engaged with them and supportive of them. You are in this together.

Every question you ask your children is an opening for them to share their stories, to build their confidence, and to strengthen your bond comfortably and safely.

This is a busy season. We – parents and kids – too often feel like we are rushing through our lives, never taking time to look back, to look forward, or to be present in the moment with each other. Taking even a small amount of time to have an intentional conversation with each other slows everything down just enough so that we don’t miss these precious moments and we don’t rush through opportunities to connect with each other and celebrate each other.

Ask your child these questions. You’ll still make it to your next activity on time.

- Elizabeth Eames, September 2018

Elizabeth Eames is a professional communicator, a parent, and a member of the Portraits that Move Team.

Brooklyn Family Photographer Raquel Frechette Features Susannah Ludwig in Mornings with Series

I met Raquel Frechette a few years ago and have been inspired by her and her work ever since. When she mentioned her new photo project to me and we discussed our participating, it was an easy yes. 

Image by Raquel Frechette, Mornings with Series, 2018 

I think Raquel has an exquisite, intuitive eye and working with her was easy and filled with fun. It was moving and interesting to experience being on the opposite side of the camera, but she made it comfortable and fun for me and for my son. I didn't feel self conscious - and as you can see in the images, neither did Jack.

I had the feeling that my son and I were given the opportunity to learn from a master. And I feel grateful to have had that. Raquel and I share the same professional/life philosophy, namely that these small, everyday moments of our lives are the ones to cherish.  I am so thankful that Raquel took the time to cherish our moments. These photos are a gift - one that I will hang onto always and that I feel privileged to share with you. 

Be Our Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day, dears!  Today we offer a Valentine to each one of you - 10% off your Portraits that Move Signature Portrait purchase today through Monday, 2/19.

Thank you for bringing light and love into our day, today and every day that you share your family, your story, your voice with us.

xo,

Susannah and the Portraits that Move Team

My Portraits that Move Moment: Confessions of a Mom with too Much

No more stuff!  I must not be alone in this mantra, as we emerge from the holiday madness and our mailboxes, physical and digital, start filling up with Valentine's Day announcements: Sales!  Gift ideas!  Don't forget gifts for your pets!  Buy one, get one!  More, more, more.  

It has never been so clear to me that my family is at odds with our lifestyle.  We truly do have an abundance, but we are not living abundantly, not even close.  And it feels like we are moving farther and farther away from gratitude.  We are well past taking the advice to do more with less.  Now, it is time to have less - and to do less - in order to appreciate more.

Looking around at all of this stuff, I realize that what I really want is three minutes.  I want three minutes of peace and calm.  Three minutes to give myself permission to do nothing but enjoy my daughter, to awaken gratitude, to replace the stress of excess with an awareness of abundance and a real appreciation for it.

I don't want tokens scattered across every empty surface to gather dust.  I don't want more photo albums I have to file.  I want three minutes that I can call up whenever I need to remind myself that underneath all of this mess, there is a beautiful, vibrant life and that there is a way to slow it down, to steady it, to bask in it. 

This is why I love working with Portraits that Move, because the filmmakers on this team use their professional experience and their artistry to hand deliver much needed moments to parents like me.

Elizabeth Eames, February 2018