The Failed Quest for the Perfect Family Photo

I didn’t want much for Christmas.

Healthy kids. Sticky rolls. Laughter. Jo Stafford’s Ski Trails playing in the background. Wifi to facetime for three hours with my family while my children opened and played with their gifts. Snow. And a perfect family photo.

I’m lucky. This year most of my Christmas wishes came true.

We avoided Sickmas, primarily because we avoided holiday travel.

My children giggled and squealed while my Christmas playlist filled the background. My brother, parents, and G-ma watched over facetime as paper ripped and flew, the next best thing to being together.

My entertainment for the day was watching my children enjoy their gifts, particularly how alphabet transforming robots and princesses shared a castle together in piece for a record amount of time. Or rather, their owners did.

They smiled as I took the first bite of our batch of sticky rolls—theirs still in the oven.

I do not remember a single Christmas morning that did not have sticky rolls. I continue the tradition with my children.

And the snow… well.

I live in south Texas. I knew that wasn’t going to happen, although it came so very close (Dallas received snow on Christmas Day). I consoled myself as my parents showed off their foot of Snowmageddon snow and single digit temperatures—my thin blooded children would have taken twenty minutes to get ready, then spent five minutes outside—maybe—before demanding hot chocolate.

All I had left on my list was a perfect family photo.

Top 3 Mistakes in the Quest for the Perfect Christmas Family Photo

1. Time of Day: The sun had set by the time guests arrived (eliminating the need for a tripod). This necessitated use of The Flash, which never looks as good as natural light. Spending almost the entire day in pajamas might have also had something to do with it (my daughter and I got dressed just before dinner).

2. Inadequate Exercising of Subjects: My children played with their new presents all day. Nonstop. While many were excellent for brain stimulation, none really burned off energy. This meant my children were balls of chaos just waiting to explode.

The best gift of Christmas: your children getting along for the day.

3. Having an Audience: In order to avoid use of the tripod, you have to have someone else there. But when that someone is actually three someones and your children realize they have the attention of three adults to unleash their goofiness onto, you’d be better off with the tripod. Which in theory could have produced great shots, had my children looked up from their Christmas gifts long enough to smile earlier in the day.

The results: One semi-decent okay family Christmas photo…..

The only photo without over-the-top silliness, someone looking away, or an awkward look on my face. My husband has his classic “Why does my wife insist upon this and why does it transform me into my son’s jungle gym?” look as I attempt to hold my daughter in place… and my son’s hat flies off because he is jumping.

….. and slew of hilarious outtakes.

The truth behind family photos: crazy goofy chaos. Which are often the best shots. Feel free to click on this image to see a close up of the craziness.

I hope everyone avoided Sickmas this year and my condolences if you did not (I have been there far too many times).

Here’s to a great 2013, or as I hope to call it: The Last Year of Diapers.

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What did you want for Christmas? Did you get it? Or do you have a great family photo to share?