The Anatomy of a Christmas Card

I am trying to think back to the exact year it all started...the year I committed to sending Christmas cards. I am pretty sure it was three years ago because I still have the card (it was from before we had Emma) and it is a picture of all of our dogs in antlers (all but Stanely because, well, three out of four ain't bad). And if I may say so, it is freakin adorable! I recall the effort that went into that shoot. The box of dog biscuits, the patience, the timing everything just right. It was a grand effort. Last year Emma was still a squishy baby that would sit still from time to time, and we had my father nicely volunteer to come over and take the pictures for us. Of course we didn't get a smile out of her but a look of bewilderment was better than a weeping baby face.

As this year's annual tradition comes around, I find myself wondering how I got here. We are short almost a week this holiday season and just like the need to get the tree sprung up on me at the last minute, all of a sudden I realized that hey...we hadn't ordered our Christmas cards yet and OMG it is useless for people to get them after Christmas so we better get on it. I mean maybe after all of the exhaustion from Christmas slowly seeps from your body as you begrudgingly shuffle to your mailbox, the day after, you are suddenly rejuvenated with the magic of the season when you see the Patterson family holiday card because hey, we aim to spread the merriment all year long!..... Um yeah, perhaps not.

I started to wonder briefly if I could just quietly back out of the whole ordeal, like maybe if I don't send one this year then we are off the hook for the rest of our lives...but then I couldn't help but play out the scenario in my head of "oh the Pattersons didn't send us a card this year. I wonder if they forgot to send it to us or I wonder if something catastrophic happened because HOW could they possibly NOT send one after sending one two years in a row!" So not being one to start controversy, I have decided to continue being a slave to the institution of Christmas cards. To be honest, I LOVE seeing images of my family on a glossy card and I have saved all of the cards we've ever sent, so I guess really and truly it is my need for nostalgia that has sabotaged my need for holiday peace.

Besides dealing with the obvious anxiety I have convinced myself that this is a tradition we would be sticking with, I tried to prepared myself for the obvious...Emma is a toddler who won't sit still. With that little tid bit of information I knew we were in for a wild ride this year. Smiling and sitting still are two different things and any chance of them actually happening while my husband is pressing the shudder button is nearly impossible.

 To validate my point, I now present to you the outtakes from our Christmas card picture taking morning. A behind the scenes look at what it really takes to get that one good shot:

"The Doggies"

Here we have the attempt to get the dogs in on the picture. After one try I gave up. Having more than one moving body to capture is just too much to ask for.

 

"The Prop"

Here we are attempting to have Emma hold a sweet fake Christmas flower thing or as this picture likes to refer it to as; the blurry red thing.

 

"The Shinny Object"

Wait what IS that awesome thing over there...oh yeah a piece of paper. Ah the attention span of a toddler.

 

"The Mommy"

 Now throw your hands in the air and wave em like you just don't care cause yeah we're soooo over this. I give up!

Next year I am considering hiring a professional or going to one of those studios to take some of the pressure off, although I think there is something truly special about having just us together as a family for the misery that is Christmas card picture taking. We shall see what next year has in store for us, perhaps we will start a new tradition of saving some of our sanity.