How Many Pictures Is Enough?

Every few months, I get a message from Apple on my iPhone telling me that my storage is almost full. I have dutifully turned off apps that I don’t need to keep running continually. I have moved most of the grandchildren videos to my home computer. But, somehow I keep getting these alarms. 

Apple will of course sell me more storage space. Then I could keep hundreds of grandchildren photos in my pocket at all times. Do I look at them that often? You bet I do. I never ever tire of the first pictures snapped at birth or the ones from last night’s bath. I could save these on my desk top and still get the same pleasure from them. But, then how will I share them with the random neighbors I encounter in the cereal aisle or the distant relatives who get seated next to me at weddings?

My solution is to set quotas. In my phone I keep two albums per grandchild. One is labeled To Share and has only 12 pictures in it. If anyone asks (or if I know they’re dying to ask), I call up these dozen photos and no more. The other album has just that grandchild’s name with 50 different shots. If I get a new, unbelievably adorable photo (aren’t they all?), I have to decide whether or not it warrants space in my phone or just on my desktop.

Choosing just the right mix of photos (at every age, serious, laughing, holiday clothes) is very tough. Being a grandmother is full of hard decisions. Or…I could just cough up the $2.99 a month for more storage.