Danielle - posted on 08/30/2009 ( 5 moms have responded )
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We all love having pictures of our kids... but sometimes it's so hard to get them taken. I'm not talking about just snapshots we take ourselves but taking them to a photo studio. First it takes all day to pack whatever meds/equipment is necessary for a trip to the mall or wherever, then you have to keep your fingers crossed that not only is your child in a good mood but also that they don't have a seizure that just throws the whole day off.
I love my mother-in-law but when it comes to getting pictures of her grandkids, she'll stop at nothing. And she just LOVES to go to Kiddie Kandids! I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Kiddie Kandids, I think for the most part they do a great job- with 'normal' kids. My mother-in-law has 3 grandkids right now and she's always trying to get these great pictures of all three kids looking into the camera smiling wearing coordinating outfits... Well, guess what!? It's just not going to happen! I have one nephew who is 3 and he's not very interested in sitting there how they tell him to sit and looking at the camera with a smile on his face... they try to bribe him with candy but eventually they give up on telling him if he is good he'll get the candy and they give him the candy THEN say, 'ok, now lets take some pictures'. Well, he already has what he wants and he knows it. They also like to try and get him to either sit close to London (or hold her when she was smaller) or hold his little brother... Well, he's not interested in that either. His little brother will be 1 soon and he's much too busy to sit and get his picture taken. I can't blame either of the boys for any of that- they're kids! But soon it just turns into crying and fit-throwing. Then, with London, first I have to explain that even though she's almost 2, she can't sit up, can't hold her head up very well, can't sit in one of those stupid wicker chairs by herself.... it goes on and on. London doesn't even like to be moved around. So then the photographer is completely stumped on what to do with her. And the crying and fit-throwing from her cousins doesn't help her mood. On top of what the kids are feeling and what they do and don't want to do- the stupid camera is stuck on that pole so it can only get one angle- so London not being able to lift her head and look at the camera just doesn't fit into Kiddie Kandids idea of a good picture. And I hate that the photographers (and my mother-in-law) will sit and wiggle things in front of London's face, make funny noises, repeat her name over and over, louder and louder, trying to get her to look in the direction of the camera. She has some vision problems and we're not exactly sure how much she can see. So if she can't see, what's her motivation to look at the stupid red, yellow, and blue dusters they're always shoving in kids' faces? UGH!!
Anyway, the time had apparently come again for us to venture out to the mall and try to get a picture of all three grandkids together. I hate it but I don't know how to say, "no, London's not going to be put through that". I wouldn't mind taking her to our local JC Penney portrait studio because the people there know her, and they know her capabilities and all they have to ask when we show up is, "has she made any developmental improvements?" and I can say, "not yet" and we get on with it. They can move all around London with their camera to get different angles so that London doesn't have to be moved around and posed like a doll. But I think the reason my mother-in-law likes to go to Kiddie Kandids is because you get your pictures in like 10 minutes. With JC Penney, you have to wait a few weeks.
Am I being a complete brat by feeling this way? Does anyone else have this kind of experience? Should I just give up on getting her pictures taken?
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