the Christmas picture- behind the scenes

Do you ever imagine the reality behind all those sweet photo cards you get over the holidays? You might think that the children look so pleasant- so cooperative. That may be true, but I bet if the kids are under 10, especially if there is more than one, the "cute card" involved more than meets the eye! So now that the Christmas cards have all been sent, I thought it would be fun to share a peek at what it really takes to get the traditional "nice picture" with three children.

When it was sunny in December, I decided to get the kids over to the lake for the annual photo shoot. They were very disappointed, of course, but the girls know better to protest, and grudgingly put on their sweaters and combed their hair. Josiah, on the other hand, has a long standing tradition of crying bitterly when it's time to take the Christmas picture. It has happened every year, and this year was no exception. It's as if somehow my voice saying "Let's change clothes and go outside to get a Christmas picture!" somehow morphs as it travels to his ear, and when it gets there, says to him, "Let's put you in a scratchy straitjacket and force-feed you egg yolks while we pull out all your toenails." That has just got to be what happens, because nothing else would logically explain his reaction. Anyway, this year was no different, but things calmed down a bit when I let him wear his monkey shirt under his jacket, and comb his own hair. (Note: being cross-eyed is very cool in four-year-old circles.)

So we got in a few clicks....

before Josiah was distracted by a snail, and just had to pick it up, and just had to show it to his "gills" (girls). One diversion led to another, and before you know it, I was distracted and he tried a daring photo-session escape.

After running around wildly and laughing hysterically, he came back on the condition that they could do some "free" posing, of their own ideas...

This was what they came up with.

But here is the best one of all. And this was even taken before the break-away- this is my pose, a "let's make it nice" pose. This shows the true feelings about picture posing in our family. It looks like a poster for disturbed children, no? Please send money, they need help? Eva informed me afterwards that here she was trying to make her face very, very red- something she does by blowing out hard while also holding her breath. Very effective. Very Christmas. The others? I have no idea.

So there you have it. My kids are wonderful, but nothing is ever simple with them. "Nice" Christmas pictures with nice-but-squirrely kids can be achieved, but not without some determination. If a nice picture is all you seek, and you want to capture it in peace, I suggest you shoot something less fidgety, such as the silent and immobile Mount Rainer. Ah... beauty AND tranquility. But without those charming smiles.