The 5th annual Christmas card debacle

As all of you who are parents know, when Christmastime rolls around there is a rush to get that elusive "perfect" picture of your child(ren) to send out to friends and family who you rarely see. You want a picture of your child(ren) in all their shining glory so that said friends and family can ooh and ah over the photo for all of three seconds, place the card on their mantle (or wherever they display all their cards) and then promptly dispose of it the day after Christmas. Little do they know the pain and suffering all have endured to get that perfect picture. The threats hissed through gritted teeth, the begging and pleading for just. one. more. picture, the bribery. Oh, the bribery. (Which very rarely works by the way).

And so, for those of you who may not experience this each year, allow me to share mine with you.

It starts out nice enough.
But quickly goes downhill.
I called it quits for that day and took a few individual shots figuring I can at least make a card at one of the online photo sites using those.

I give it another try at a local gardening center. This place is always beautifully decorated and at midday during the week, there is hardly anyone there.

Unfortunately, things don't go much better there than at home.

My personal favorite reject:
And then you do get a good one. Not necessarily perfect but a pretty darn good one. And it just so happens to be the very first picture you snapped on this outing.

New camera!

I finally got my new camera yesterday. It is an early Christmas gift and I have been wanting one for at least a year. It made me a little sick to actually hit "complete purchase" when I ordered it from Amazon because I have never spent that much money on a camera. But, now that it is here, I am loving it.

The clarity! The depth! The ketchup on my son's face! It's all here.

No pictures, please

Wordless Wednesday

Are you sure you've got the right one?

With the holiday season fast approaching (or is it already here? Thanksgiving is next week!), my thoughts have turned to what to get the kids for Christmas. I can easily think of many things for Ciara and Aidan.

Ciara is 2 and big into Dora and Diego. However annoying they might be, there will most likely be one toy featuring these characters under the tree on Christmas morning. She also loves to sort things so there will be something along those lines as well.

Aidan has such an imagination, he could find entertainment with a rock and a piece of paper. Give him an action figure or two and some building blocks and he will create an amazing scenario and be entertained for at least an hour or two. And anything to do with art. He loooves his art supplies.

Now, Gavin...he's the one that is giving me trouble. When he's at home his main interests are his video game, his Leapster and the computer. I am trying to steer away from all things electronic and am racking my brain thinking of things to get him. When asked directly he'll say he wants a new video game, a new Leapster game and a scooter. Okay, the scooter is a good one but what else? Out of desperation I asked his preschool teacher what exactly he plays with at school.

Teacher: Well, he is always asking me to take down the pirate ship to play with.
Me: Really?? We have one at home he barely touches.
Teacher: Oh, and that helicopter. He loves that!
Me: Gavin? The helicopter? (neither of the boys have ever been the things-that-go type of kid)
Teacher: And the art supplies. He likes to sit at the desk and draw and cut with scissors.
Me: Really? Gavin? Are you sure you're not thinking of Aidan.
Teacher: (Starting to think I am a tad bit crazy now) Yes, those are the top three things he likes to do.

Now, the thing that gets me is we have ALL these things at home. The helicopter sits gathering dust on the shelf. Aidan plays with the pirate ship and whenever I try to encourage Gavin to he says no. And any time I have tried to do an art activity at home, he participate for all of 5 minutes and then announces "I'm all done with this".

I suppose playing with things at home and at school are different. At school, you have 8 other kids to play with. Maybe that somehow makes it more exciting than playing at home with your brother who has been your constant companion for the last 4+ years.

The voice of reason. From a 4 year old.

Gavin has only asked for about 3 things for Christmas. One of these being a scooter. My husband was trying to convince Gavin that maybe it might be better to wait until his summer birthday for the scooter. Getting a scooter in the winter and not being able to ride it until the spring might be a little bit of a downer.

But then I had a great idea. I said "Well, if Santa brings you a scooter maybe you could use it in the (long, uncarpeted) upstairs hallway*." I may as well have suggested he ride it on the highway during rush hour.

He turned to me with an incredulous look on his face and said "No. No I could not do that. I might fall down the stairs."

"That's right, Gavin" said my husband nodding proudly at his son for rejecting his mother's dangerous suggestion.

Thank goodness one of us has some common sense.

*Of course I would be supervising to make sure no one fell down the treacherous stairs. I'm not that stupid.

I hope they are always this close

Wordless Wednesday

A very pitiful Shrek

Perhaps ogres don't like lollipops?