I’m going to make a ridiculously obvious observation: Having a kid is a huge responsibility. Major life changes abound as you now have to put someone else’s life before your own and their financial burden is squarely on your metaphorical shoulder (while they are normally found hanging off your literal shoulder).
Having a baby also means new beginnings and it’s the perfect time to create lifelong traditions for your new family. Holiday traditions come easily as most people take over the customs that they grew up with. Things like making a wish before pulling apart the Thanksgiving turkey wishbone and watching a particular movie on Christmas Eve.
Daily and weekly traditions are also pretty easy to embrace since repetition cements their status. Things like reading a book before bed and pizza Fridays.
Then there are regional traditions.
Here in Austin, spring comes early. Don’t be too jealous though, our ridiculous summers drag on from the middle of May to the middle of October. Our four seasons should be called summer, more summer, even more summer and almost summer. But I digress.
With spring comes wildflowers with names like Indian paintbrush, pink evening primrose and the crown jewel, the Texas bluebonnet. A rainbow of color strewn along the highways, byways and freeways of the Central Texas landscape. Starting in late February, you will begin to see people pull off to the side of the road to take family photos.
Some families have their secret spots that they don’t share with anyone, they want their field of flowers to be pristine for their pictures. Others are more than happy to brag about that their spot is the greatest in the land – after they’ve taken their photos of course.
We got lucky and found an un-trampled, snake-free field of Texas bluebonnets for our inaugural family photo that was about a mile from our home. We were also fortunate to find ourselves free on a dry, clear evening with a baby who was in an agreeable mood.
With luck on our side we made the short trek, figured out the timer on the camera and actually got a few half way decent photos. It was a COMPLETE COINCIDENCE that there was a bakery right next to the field and it was even more uncanny that on that particular eve, they happened to have an excess of red velvet cake balls…
