I hung up the phone and felt fear gripping my stomach.
I need to get my hair cut. I looked into the living room and saw two boys who desperately need haircuts too. And what would I wear? What would we all wear?
Yes, you guessed it. We're meeting the Queen.
Done laughing? All this worry over...getting a family picture taken.
We haven't had a professional picture taken since 2002. Our little family has grown by three since then. The last time we all wore something in the Christmasy red and green and it looks very festive.
This time I don't want to look like a Holiday display and while I'd like us to coordinate, we don't necessarily have to be all matchy matchy but I have no idea what to dress everyone in. (Feel free to offer suggestions, PLEASE!)
If it was an outside photo shoot, I think it would be easier, but it's not. We're going to a studio where I got a great deal. They think I'll be sucked into a $200 package but they're soooo wrong. I'm taking the special and running for the hills, baby!
When the Husband got home I told him of the appointment and of my concerns regarding appearance. The man who starches his shirts to within an inch of their life looked at me like I was a little ummm nuts.
He said we should just go as is because that's who we are and no one needs a haircut and we can all just wear whatever.
What is wrong with this man I married?! Hasn't he seen all the gorgeous family photos people have in coordinating clothes? Does he not notice that one of the boys has some serious mop head going on? Has he not noticed my hair is doing an annoying mushroom-shaped thing lately? ("I am getting my hair cut! " I said to him, waving my finger in the air.)
This is a picture he wants to put on our Christmas cards. (His idea.) Doesn't he want us to look perfectly coiffed and outfitted and put together?
Apparently he doesn't see the value in looking "just so". He sees the value beyond the varnish. He always has. Sometimes I think that if he were a little more critical of my appearance I would still be the woman I was when we met; nails always polished, swimming in a carefully coordinated size two. Instead he loves me just the way I am..no longer a size two, nails rarely polished, hair looking like a wild mushroom.
I am mostly content this way...but sometimes I look in the mirror and wish for what I was...on the outside. On the inside I have grown so much since we met (and not just in the waist and hips). I know that I am stronger and wiser.
I'm just not wise enough to realize what the Husband already does..the beauty of our family is that the kids act their age and we function better as a unit when we go with the flow, not when we try to put on a (false) show of the proper Stepford family.
(Should I put in a disclaimer that I have nothing against the "just so" families I know? I admire and envy you, honestly. This isn't sour grapes either. I am happy that you have it together..it just isn't in my nature to be that way, I guess.)
I still want a good picture though, and not good in a "Funniest Home Videos $10,000 winner" way either.
-Peace
Fun! I tend to agree with your hubby on this point. We have done the matching thing...but honestly at this point it is so beyond my control and organization skills. But I also agree with you, I need to be at least comfortable with the way *I* look. :) And perhaps I tend to take too much guilt if I don't think the kids look "just so". Try to find a balance between looking "good" and just being relaxed and comfortable. That was my goal when we did our family pictures last month. We don't all coordinate, but we sure were happy and there was no veneer. I asked the kids to wear polo shirts if they had them and church pants. Afterward, I didn't look at the pictures and say "Oh I wish our shirts matched", but it was more like, "I'm glad nobody wore pants with holes in the knees!" :) And I'm really glad there were no forced smiles because mommy was stressed out about wardrobes and passed it on down the line.
ReplyDeleteWe are always who we are, and most of the time, I'm not ashamed to admit that we all three look like a poster for "Rednecks 'R Us". Trying to be something we aren't, even for just an hour is just too danged hard! We don't do the family picture thing............the last real one we had done was when The Youngun was 7 1/2 months old. We don't want to go to a photographer who will position us just so and make us look "perfect". We'll just go out in the backyard and I'll set the timer on my camera and we'll go with it!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your photo, it will be gorgeous because it will be you in the moment and that is what really matters!
My favorite family photo is the one we took last year - Anna was just getting over pneumonia and still looking rather pale :) Victoria was running around acting like our beloved little girl and Julia was trying so hard to stay stoic and not get lost in a fit of giggles. Ron and I were just trying to go with the flow even though we wanted a good picture. Oh and my hair looks stringy and gross, imo :) Victoria desperately needed a haircut (hence the barrette), Julia did her own hair (this took great restraint on my part!) and Anna needed her bangs trimmed.
ReplyDeleteThat all being said... our favorite picture (the one on our cards, my profile pic and my fave of all time!) was a last minute impromptu pose that Ron came up with. We are all laughing hysterically and just after that one was snapped Victoria dissolved into a puddle of tears (signaling that we were indeed done with our photo shoot LOL). I have no doubt your photo will be beautiful and I, for one, can not wait to see it! Hugs!!!
Ok...I love you for this! I was right there with you every step of the way. Part of me wants my ballerinas to be in adorable outfits that are just so, and the other part wants the crazy mismatched outfits that they pick out for themselves. I don't get into the matchy-matchy, and I NEVER buy school photos b/c they're too "stiff" looking for my taste. I like pix that show WHO we are. Those are the ones I hang on my walls. Fingers in mouth, wearing goggles in a fancy dress and slippers.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll stop by later in the month for my November Family photo. It is "as we are" to the extreme.
Have fun with your photo shoot and BE YOURSELVES (minus the wild mushroom hair). I know it will be cherished forever.
Kim, I love your family photos. Such a gift you have! I wish our camera had a timer because it would be sooo much easier.
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