My daughter sucks.  Well, not really.  She’s actually pretty awesome.  My biggest beef with her is that she growing up so damn fast.  I read mom and dad blogs where they recount their baby’s first steps, their first words, etc. etc.  I can barely remember these moments.

She was just born when I took on the remodel of our kitchen.  I spent several days and long nights laying down new floors and custom fitting cabinets.  I don’t think baby Carmen would have recognized me without a tape measure attached to my belt and a pencil resting on my ear.

And, of course, how could I forget about when I used to referee high school football?  I would run off every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday throughout the fall to get screamed and cursed at by children and their parents.  Saturday morning/afternoon was the worst.  Women with jaguar and/or butterfly tattoos (the stretch marks tend to distort the image a bit) would scream at me for not throwing the flag on some phantom penalty.  Parents and/or coaches would rush onto the field dropping F-bombs in front of 8 year olds and tweens if a close game didn’t go their way.  All the while, my little girl was at home learning to walk and talk.  The extra money was nice, but certainly not worth the cost.

So, I went out at bought a “flip” camcorder.  It was actually a Kodak Zi6, which I traded for a Kodak Zi8.  I gave myself a mandate.  I said, “Self! We’re going to document this child’s life from now till when she moves out!”  Needless to say, that almost never happens.  She’s insanely camera-shy and pitches a fit when she even sees someone holding a camera.  She doesn’t even like taking pictures.  I break out the Canon T2i and she’s in shambles.  Every once in a while I can convince her to play along by telling her I’d show her the picture or video afterwards.   If that doesn’t work, well, I have to hide the camcorder.  The latter seems a little creepy to me.

The best camera you have is the one that’s on you. I keep hearing that from folks throughout the blogosphere.  I agree with it to some extent, which is why I am happy to see some quality camera phones coming out.  It is well documented that the camera on the iPhone4 is spectacular.  I own a Motorola Droid X.  The Droid X sports an 8 megapixel camera and films in 720p.  The video leaves a lot to be desired, but the picture quality can be amazing given the lighting situation.  Sometimes you don’t like carrying around a DSLR all the time.  It also might be cumbersome lugging that thing to catch a quick moment when your child is doing something you want to share with your social circle.

Facebook: The new family album. Speaking of sharing your memories with the world, one of the more convenient things about cell phones, especially smartphones, is the ability to instantly share your photos to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc. instantly.  So, you’re at the Chinese buffet and your kid put the crab legs up to her head like they were antlers, well, click, options, share, post.  Bam!  Done!  (Carmencita’s never done that, by the way. The wife, however, well, I’m not so sure.)

People are always surprised how few photos I print.  Posting pictures to Facebook allows me to share my photographs with family and friends.  It allows me to save on printing costs and on the cost of stamps.  For the older folks, like great grandparents, great uncles and aunts, etc., well, of course, print a select few and send them off with a nice note.

Cherish the times. Time flies and I am having a really tough time with it.  I’m afraid that before I know it she’ll be driving off to college and I’ll be left watching the Phillies game all alone.  I need to slow down a bit and cherish these times.  I remember when I reffed high school football I would have to reconnect with her on Sundays.  It felt like I had to remind her who I was.

As father’s we all live busy lives.  There is always something to fix or something to clean or something to do that cannot involve a young child.  We also feel pressured and obligated into being the photographer or the videographer.  Let’s collectively take a deep breath, refocus and relax so we can enjoy the time spent with our children.

Hand the camera to your wife and let her serve as the photographer for a while.

Does your little one give you a hard time with taking pictures?  Do you have a physical photo album?