Family Photo Time!!

Ah, family photo time.

I couldn't help but think of Claire Dunphy, on the show, 'Modern Family' as I tried to contain myself and my need to be a control freak.

I wanted something fun and unique, veering away from the traditional Christmas portrait. I imagined dressing as spies, adorned in sleek, black masks, with guns at the ready (okay, maybe just finger or water pistols), but Mr. Man just laughed.

"Where are you going to find water guns at this time of year?" he asked.

******

So we dressed in black and white, and blue jeans - even matching socks, and went to the mall. We bought an appropriate black sweater at the last minute for our son who didn't quite match. Fuzzy black stuff spread across his pristine white shirt and I made an inward sigh.

Little Miss's red curls were going frizzy. I stepped into a kid's jewelry store and spent way too much on a hairbrush and hairband.

"Would you like an added accessory for a reduced price?"

"Sure, sure."

"How about a family discount card for future purchases?"

"Sure, sure." I said absently, as Little Miss starts crying in the corner, not getting her way on the accessory.

So now she was frizzy, red and blotchy. Another inward sigh.

As Mr. (who is the only one calm, and pristine by this point) smooths over everyone, we go into the photo store. The photographer was also red, blotchy and a little frizzy. Apparently we wore an inappropriate colour, and varied too much in height. And at this, there was no appropriate background, no customer relations, and no fun poses.

Inward sigh, and a little vein poking out of my neck.

The most interesting pose we got was all of us wearing Santa hats (which took a little persuading of our little ones, and a slight fear of head lice).

From the start, I went in with a photo budget, and since most of it went with the sweater, hairbrush and accessories, I spent $22.95 on the boring, unhappy family photos.

We bought the kids a last minute muffin at a local coffee shop as a thank you for getting through it, and quickly took them home to bed, letting them sleep in their clothes, thereby getting sweater fluff on the bed sheets.

I should've known it would turn out like this first thing this morning, when we were awakened by the Christmas tree falling over.