Christmas Photo Shoots

Do you make your family pose for a Christmas card photo every year? I do.

Do you make your family wear coordinating colors for said photo every year? I do.

Do you go over the edge when your youngest daughter insists on doing her own hair for said photo? I DO!!

Let's just say that I could totally relate to Modern Family's Claire in the last episode of season one. And not once did I think she was being unreasonable or over reacting:

For the past 9 years, I have had full control over what my family wore (except one year involving a white t-shirt, but I won't go there today), and how their hair was fixed for the annual Christmas card photos. Here's just a taste of some of my successful dictatorship photos from Christmases past:

For the past 8 months or so, Megan has been growing out her bangs. And that's fine. Amanda did this a couple years ago, and it really was painless. Mostly because she kept her too-long bangs clipped up and out of her face. Megan, however, seems to enjoy the feeling of hair hanging in her eyes. Kinda' like those beads we used to hang from doorways in the 70's. Okay, I never did that, but I always thought they were pretty groovy.

So once again this year the family wore what I asked (told) them to wear. Amanda let me clip her already grown-out bangs away from her eyes. Megan, on the other hand, refused to have hers clipped up. Excuuuuse meeee??? Does she not know that MOM is in charge here? That this is the one thing I look forward too all year long? That THESE photos are the reason I gave birth to children in the first place?!

So yeah, I spent most of the photo shoot, trying to brush the hair out of her eyes. She has such a cute little face, I just hated for it to be covered up!!

There ended up being 2 poses that I liked a lot. But the one that I liked the most, had Meg's dang bangs hanging every which way but back. If this photo were larger, you'd be able to see the eye obstruction, and I'm sure you would feel my pain.

This one turned out, only because seconds before, I reached back and once again pushed that hair out of her eyes:

I know, I need to get a life. It's just a picture after all, right? (Who asked you, anyway?)

But here's the thing ... as soon as the photo shoot was over, Meg was like, "Mom, do you have a clip? My bangs are buggin' me."

WHAT?! ARE YOU EVEN KIDDING ME?!?!

Yeah. And as if that wasn't enough torment, she INSISTED on clipping her bangs up every day after that photo shoot for 2 WEEKS STRAIGHT!!!

But it's cool. I'm over it.