We're the Scrooge Family

My mother-in-law has quite a collection of kids books. She's got the classics, and then some that are awesome that I'd never read before. I feel a little deprived on behalf of the kid I once was. But there is one book that I think you have to be a parent to fully appreciate. The book is called The  Perfect Christmas Picture.  It's about a family who tries getting a nice family picture for their Christmas card, beginning in January. Each month, something huge goes wrong. Cooperation is at a minimum. Nature is less than beautiful on picture days. Injuries occur. Anything that can happen pretty much does.

I find this book so amusing. Mostly because it's so very, very true. I can get such good pictures of the kids when their clothes clash horribly with each other's, or when Micah's face is covered in the remains of his lunch, or if the background is cluttered.  But the minute I tell everyone that we're taking family pictures, the first thing they put on is their grumpy. At least one pouts because I had the nerve to impose on their precious time. Another has decided that not smiling is the new black. To compensate for all the evils of the family, there is always that token kid who overdoes to brown nose. You can tell by looking at the cheesy smile which one that is. Every year, my holiday photos are some of the worst out there.

And this, people, is why we can't have nice things.

So I took the kids' holiday card photos. They knew this day was coming from several weeks out, so I didn't spring anything unexpected on them. Still, there was the one who was unhappy that I imposed on his time. And although the weather has been unseasonably awesome, the temperature dropped 40 degrees overnight and forgot to come back up. There was that kid who was too cold to be anything else. Like happy.

So, yeh. Our cards will rock this year.