A woman on TikTok is giving her take on the impact of having family photos displayed in a home. TikTok user, Emily, shared her own story about how she believes her confidence as an adult could partially be due to the fact that, growing up, her parents displayed photos of her around the house.

“I’ve always considered myself to have a really strong sense of self, self-esteem, and a strong family unit, but I also have thought about the fact that in almost all of my family’s homes. They all had pictures up of all of us and think back to my personal home, my mom and dad put pictures of us up on their staircase,” she said.

Emily explained that, growing up, her parents not only kept photos up around the house, but they were proud of them much to her chagrin as a kid.

“In sixth grade, I’m about to go to my first dance, and I have my braces and I just look like, you know, so awkward, right? Because it’s like puberty. And I am so ashamed by it, and every time someone would come over when I was in high school, I’d be like, ‘Dad, please take this picture down,’ and he was always so proud of it,” she said before becoming emotional.

“…he loved it. And he’s like, ‘No, I love you. I love you at any age. I love seeing you at that age.’ And it just like really reminds me of like how much that that boosted me, you know, boosted me overall.”

Emily also mentioned her grandmothers who also proudly displayed photos of her in their homes, joking that she and her cousins used to compete for who had the most pictures displayed at grandma’s house.

She continued: “Like, I feel so loved by my parents, my grandparents, and my aunts and uncles too. You know, they had photos as well, and I just think that like something so simple is so underestimated, and it makes you want to go print out some family photos and put them up on the walls.”

Hundreds of TikTok users commented on Emily’s post, confirming her theory that seeing photos proudly displayed in their home or a loved one’s home truly shaped their self-worth.

“I’m a foster mom and this was one of the first things my foster daughter (9yo) asked for in our home, not new bedding, decor, or even toys. She asked if she could be in our pictures. 🥺,” one user wrote.

“‘I love you in every age’ is something I need my kids to know when they become adults 🥺,” another wrote.

Another said, “My mom had a whole wall of all my photos from when I was growing up, so my whole life I walked past so many different photos of different phases of my life. 💙”

“facts. my kid is probably in the top 10 most anxious and nervous kids you ever met. but he knows we’re obsessed with him and his confidence is through the ROOF 😂,” one explained.

Another said, “Yes! I didn’t have this so it was so important to me as a parent to have photos of my kids growing in our home. I always wanted the photos up the stairs and i do it now in adulthood. ❤️”

One user realized, “Wait….. I just realized we didn’t have any pictures of us on display growing up …”

The OP replied, “Ugh I’m sorry, that’s a hard truth to take in. But the good news is there is always time to make your life/your kids (future family) better than what you had🫶”

Brb, heading to Walgreens right now to print out some recent photos of my kid!