Say Cheese.

Anyone who knows us knows how much we like our gadgets. The arrival of Archie and the fact that my employer stopped paying me for maternity leave after 6 months has required that we reassess our priorities, and clearly, buying the necessities of life, paying the mortgage and getting a few treats for Archie take precedence over frivolous bits and bobs. It's actually quite nice to be looking at relatively small items and wishing we could afford them. It kind of reminds me of being a kid again and getting excited about what I might be getting for Christmas or my birthday. Even if we were to win the lottery at some point in the future and money would no longer be an issue, I can't see the gratuitous and wanton spending we were engaging in giving us the same buzz as it used to. After all, how can you compare any material purchase to the wonderful gift of a child? I have to laugh at myself sometimes. If someone had told me a couple of years ago that I would have made a statement like that, I'd have said they had the wrong person!

Anyway, I digress. We have had a bit of a splurge this week. Although we have a fantastic Digital SLR with a selection of lenses, flashes and diverse other accessories, we found we hadn't been taking many pictures of Archie. There are a number of reasons for this. Archie, from the day of his birth, has always been an intensely curious little soul and from the instant he sees the camera, he normally assumes the most serious demeanour. Also the camera is quite bulky and it can be quite difficult to get candid snaps. On our recent trip to Switzerland, we lugged along the whole camera kit and caboodle AND DIDN'T EVEN OPEN THE BAG!!! We decided to invest in a pocket-sized, point-and-shoot Digital camera. It arrived today and Archie proved straight away that the best toys dont cost so much and are more fun.