3:46 pm. “How is it already time to book family pictures?!”
Nothing says “Fall” more than a reminder that it’s time to book family pictures. Every summer I have a master plan to book our session early, magically find coordinating outfits, coax angelic smiles for the camera, and finish holiday cards before Halloween.
It’s never happened. Has that actually happened for anyone?
For us, here’s how it usually goes:
Something messes up the date. Last minute soccer tournament, random thunderstorm, 105 fever. One year we woke up on picture day and it was 30 degrees in September. We had to reschedule because our jackets were still in the attic.
Outfits don’t magically appear. Seems like it should be easy, but we all know that making 4+ matching outfits look like it just happened, takes weeks of planning and 100 trips to Old Navy. I’ve sent countless photos to Maggie with different options just hoping that some combination of plaid, solid, sweater, and flowers is the right mix.
Day of, nothing goes right trying to get out the door. Shoes won’t fit, someone is crying, the sweater is itchy. By the time we are all in the car, I’m sweaty, the kids have heard my monster voice and my husband is yelling: “Your mother literally only asks for one thing!”. It’s the longest car ride of the year.
At the session, it’s a gamble who it’s going to be, but someone isn’t going to be with the program. It’s been a different kid each year. One year, Allie refused to let Chris hold her. Last year, Lucas refused to wear shoes. As a toddler, I didn’t consider nap time and Charlie practically slept through the whole thing.
Eventually, our angel photographers work their magic and we end up with a handful of images that I absolutely love. It’s almost like having a baby, all of the chaos is forgotten when the digital images arrive. These beloved images usually sit on my desktop until Thanksgiving where I scramble to print holiday cards, pictures for my mom and ornaments just in time to avoid extra shipping fees. Then I block the whole thing out until this email arrives again.
This year though, it’s going to be different. We have a new plan!
Family photos are not going to be our Holiday card. This is going to be hard for me, but de-coupling these two things already takes a ton of mental pressure off. Last year, Maggie used one of Reeves art projects for her Holiday card and it was my absolute favorite. Candid family photo on the back. Bam. Done.
Indoor photos. I love the sunset shots, but it wasn’t working for us. Aside from the unpredictable weather, outdoor photos always seem to overlap with mealtime. Which means With indoor photos, outfits are easy to plan, they can be any time of day so we aren’t missing dinner to catch the right light
Pictures are before back to school. The kids are more relaxed, schedules aren’t crazy and our favorite photographer is more flexible if things need to be rescheduled. Plus that six months to actually print and use photos before the holidays!
We’re attempting a dry-run. Kids do better when they know what to expect, right? We attempted this last year (the night before) and it almost helped. So this year, we’re all in, but with enough time to swap out too-small pants. A few days before, we’ll have the kids put on their picture clothes and listen to a 30 second plea about how we need their help for a few minutes on picture day.
Let the kids wear sneakers. Just not going to argue about shoes.
We’ll keep you posted on how this goes.
