We take so many photos when our babies are little.
One week old. One month. Six months. Their first smile. The first time they sit up.
At the time, we’re simply trying to capture the moment before they change again.
But one day, those photos won’t just be sitting in our camera roll.
They’ll be framed on our walls, sitting on our shelves, shared on our socials and saved in family albums.
Some will be printed for grandparents.
And some will probably get pulled out every birthday because we still can’t believe how little they once were 😂
We might be taking these photos for ourselves right now, but over time, they become part of our children’s story too.
Culture in the photos we keep
When we created our milestone discs, I wanted Pasifika families to have a simple way to bring a little bit of culture into these memories.
That might be through a Samoan, Tongan or Fijian milestone disc.
Or it might be an English milestone disc surrounded by Polynesian-inspired patterns.
However you choose to capture it, that photo could be around for a very long time.
It might even end up on their 21st key one day.
And when they look back at those photos, I hope they see more than how tiny they were.
I hope they see that culture was already there.
From day one.
It was there in the little details we chose for them before they were old enough to choose for themselves.
So when they grow up, culture isn’t something that suddenly appears in their story.
It’s something they can see was always part of it.
And hopefully, those little things stay with them.
The things that felt normal in our homes may become the things they one day bring into their own homes, with their own children.
Because keeping our culture alive doesn’t only happen in the big moments.
It happens in the everyday ones too.
And maybe the small choices we’re making now will become the ones they carry forward for the next generation.
I think that makes these little photos even more special.
Jane x