The Back of Their Heads

I was going through pictures I've taken from our adventures these last few weeks of summer.

We've been to zoos, parks, monuments, and shopping malls giving me plenty of opportunities to capture their antics and give their teenager selves plenty of eye rolling one day.

But as I was scrolling through my uploaded pictures I realized a lot of the candid shots I get nowadays is of the back of their little heads.

Sure they'll turn and look if I ask, flash a cheesy grin, or stick their tongues out because they're cool like that. 

But if I really just want to steal a moment- a raw, perfectly imperfect glimpse into their little worlds I have to do just that, steal it.

It involves me hiding my camera and pulling it only when they aren't telling me their stories or showing me their coolest new jump or ninja kick.

And because of that, because I don't want to ruin the real moment I don't always get their faces. I get their backs, their shoulders, their heads...but I see everything I need to.

I know these little people, I know them inside and out. I know them like the back of my hand and the back of their heads.

I know what makes them giddy, I know what makes them scared, I know what makes them tired, angry, excited, silly, sad, and proud, and I know exactly what they feel without even seeing their face.

I see their shoulders slump in defeat, I see heads on craned necks in anticipation, I see smiles literally consume their whole bodies, and I see pride in confident heads held high. 

I know when to rush to their aid or to stay back and let them grow on their own, sometimes from not even seeing their face, I can tell, because I know these little people...who will one day be not so little people.

One day I'm sure I'll watch the back of one of my sons' heads as he sits in a robe and cap waiting to cross a stage to receive a diploma, I'll see the backs of their heads as they stand beside their finance becoming man and wife, I'll watch them walk away to board airplanes, drive to other states, move mountains, and blaze new trails and I'll know what's going on inside my child.

But for now I love the view through my lens of the back of their perfect little heads and their realizing I can tell exactly what kind of shenanigans they're scheming without ever having to see their faces ;)