5 Easy Ways to Get in the Frame With Your Kids
Let me guess—you’ve got 2,000 photos of your kids eating snacks, blowing bubbles, and making goofy faces... and maybe three blurry selfies of you together, one of which includes a rogue Goldfish cracker on your shirt.
Friend, I’ve been there. We’re the memory keepers, the snack givers, the ones always behind the camera. But someday, your babies are going to want to look back and see you too. The way you laughed with them, snuggled them, danced barefoot in the kitchen—and not just from your outstretched phone arm.
Here are 5 creative, totally doable ways to get yourself into the frame—because these are your memories too.
1. Set a Timer and Let the Chaos Happen
This one’s for the tickle fights, bed-jumping, and wild toddler energy that doesn’t care if your hair is brushed.
Here’s what to do:
- Prop your phone on a chair or use a tripod.
- Set a 10-second timer or burst mode.
- Then go be with your kids—tackle into a pillow pile, have a dance party, or make silly faces until everyone’s belly laughing.
These photos are magic because they’re real. Not posed. Not perfect. Just you, showing up with your whole heart.
💡 I once did this and ended up with a photo of my son mid-air launching into a hug while my daughter shrieked with laughter. My hair was in a messy bun, I'm pretty sure my knee was in chicken doo-doo—but it’s one of my favorites.
2. Use a Tripod for the Ordinary Moments
You don’t need a birthday or matching outfits to make a photo-worthy moment. Honestly, the everyday stuff is what you’ll miss most someday.
Try this:
- Set up a tripod in the kitchen, playroom, or wherever your daily life unfolds.
- Snap a photo while you're making pancakes together, reading bedtime stories, or brushing their hair after a bath.
📸 This image of me and Jack from years ago is one of my all time favorites. I set up my tripod and we played. It's blurry. It's grainy. But it's us. And it's perfect.
3. Catch Your Reflection
This one’s sneaky—in the best way.
Instead of setting up a shot, just notice your reflection. In a window, the oven door, a mirror, or even a puddle after the rain.
Next time you're brushing teeth together or making silly faces at the glass door—grab a quick snap.
✨ Some of my favorite photos are the post-bath mirror ones—my kids in their little hooded towels, all pruny and giggly. It’s just one of those moments I know I’ll never want to forget.
And this one? It's not fancy, it's just the first time I put Jack in a forward-facing carrier, and he was just too cute not to grab a picture.
4. Make It a Weekly Thing
This one’s simple and sweet: pick one day a week and commit to snapping a photo of you with your kids during real life.
Maybe it’s Friday morning snuggles. Tuesday night bath time. Sunday pancakes.
Set a reminder on your phone, use a remote shutter or video mode, and start building a collection of beautiful, ordinary moments.
📆 After a few weeks, you’ll have a little time capsule of life as it really looked—and that is gold
5. Let Your Kids Take the Photo
This might sound risky, but trust me—it’s precious.
Hand over your phone (supervised, of course!) and let your toddler be the photographer. Or ask your older child to snap a few photos of you doing what you usually do—making snacks, folding laundry, or giving their sibling a piggyback ride.
👶 The photos might be blurry or crooked, but they’ll be from your child’s perspective… and that’s kind of wonderful.
If you take anything from this post, let it be this: you are worth remembering, exactly as you are. Not just the dressed-up, posed-for-portraits version. But the soft, silly, real-life version your kids adore.
Now go set that timer, hand over the camera, or prop your phone on a pile of books. Whatever you do—just get in the photo.
💌 Thinking about getting in the frame with your kiddos this season? Click here to peek at some favorite galleries.
And if you try one of these ideas? Tag me! I love seeing the way you make magic out of your ordinary days.
