old country house blog

GET OFF YOUR BROTHER! OR THE CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO

AHHH the Holidays….
December is knocking on the door…
Target looks like the back room of a Holiday Party
on steroids and
MY kids are starting all their sentences with…
“The ONLY thing I REALLY REALLY REALLY  I want is….”
And It is CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO TIME AGAIN…
Back in the old days…back when I used to care…I would invest time that would have been
better spent on a GOOD nap…striving for that ONE photo.
“SMILE DAMMIT!!!”
You know how it goes..the elusive photo where everyone is looking in the same direction
AND
looking happy… a photo that would
That would sum it all up.

NOW…I am just happy to get them ordered and the entire
process takes no more than 30 minutes MAX!

It is just like ANYTHING else …
When you try too hard it sabotages the process.
Generally speaking our Christmas Card shots are of a favorite day…
along the way…during the year…on vacation…
When we all just smiled…
because we were happy.

There are still chunks of life that toss me on my butt in confusion…
but I can say with utmost confidence
that ANY photo of your children will make you smile…
….years from now.
 I look back at albums…ALBUMS of photos taken in photo shoots
that ended in tears
or time outs and I want to grab that ME by the shoulders…
….first give her a hug…possibly a glass of wine (she DID have 3 under 4)
….and then say…
REEELAAAXXXX.
It is all going to be JUST fine.
LIFE is too short.
 THANKFULLY…. FINALLY…
somewhere in between toddlers and middle school I got in through my
THICK NUMB skull that there is no such thing as THE picture…
THE moment,  which captures a WHOLE year…
 YOU CANNOT CAPTURE A WHOLE YEAR IN A PHOTO.
 But you can make people smile.
You can show them a good day…or a fun moment frozen in time…
You can make them wonder…”Where were they when that was taken?”
or exclaim…
“Those kids are getting SO big!”
 You can tell them with your photo that despite
the fact that you communicate with them but once a year
….that they DO mean something to you…and to your family and that
you hope that the year has treated them well.
You can tell them…. that even if your Dad died…that life
is going on and smiles are still possible…
That it gets a little easier to breathe…
and to LIVE…
and even…to laugh.
 You can tell them Thank You for the notes and the calls and the food and the
support.
For their LOVE
 The kids are healthy and Happy and have lots of good friends…
and LIFE is good.
You cannot capture a year in a photo…
But each MOMENT is precious…
and beautiful.
….You can tell people with a photo…
that you LOVE them…
That they mean something to you…
and That you are grateful…
Very Grateful…
to be here…with ONE MORE PHOTO.
To Say
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

HANG IN THERE.

XO

8 thoughts on “GET OFF YOUR BROTHER! OR THE CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO

  1. The scowl on the first photo and the clear distress in the last photo absolutely crack me up. We have a whole gallery of family photos where our one and only refuses to smile, in fact, looks as if she’s pretending to not know us at all.

  2. ohmygosh that last one is priceless – even Santa looks pissed! HAHA! Great pictures and you are right – they are all priceless! Love your blog – hope you have a very December and a Merry Christmas!

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