Christmas Cards 2013 Family Fun

Christmas Cards 2013 – The trials and tribulations of getting the family together for a Christmas photo! 

If you’ve read my Making of a Christmas Card 2012, then you know how much work fun it is for our family to get on board and show up for the annual family pic/Christmas card. You didn’t read it?  You can do so here!  

We usually have our photoshoot on the weekend after Thanksgiving so that I can send our cards out on December 1.

Well, that didn’t happen this time around.  

This is how things went down with Christmas Cards 2013

Me (to daughter #1 a few days before Thanksgiving): “We’re having our pics made Saturday for our annual Christmas card.”

Daughter #1:   “Not this year. I’m just not doing it this year. Just do y’all (yes, we’re southern) and the grandkids.”

Me:  “But this is the only time I get a pic of the entire family and didn’t you say the same thing last year? I could have just hit rewind!”

Daughter #1: “Sorry. I’m just not being in it. You always choose the one that I look crazy in. Really, just do everyone except us (she and her hubby).” Really!  People would think we’ve disinherited them!

Me (with fingers and toes crossed so it’s not technically a lie): “I’ll let you pick this year’s picture out.”

Daughter #1: “Um, no!”

Going Down The “Make Her Feel Guilty” Route – Christmas Cards 2013

Me (trying the “make her feel guilty” route): “I guess I’ll just have to use one from last year. Except that the youngest grandkid was a baby and now he’s not. People will think his growth was stunted. Family members will start calling each other saying, “There’s something seriously wrong with that last grandchild.”

Daughter #2 – the agreeable daughter – says, “It doesn’t matter to me. We will do whatever you want. If you want all of us, that’s fine. If you just want the grandkids, that’s fine.” Aren’t those the words that every mother wants to hear?

Son #2 (texting me): “Can’t wait to get home for Thanksgiving break. What color scheme are we using for this year’s card (color scheme?  Love. It.)?”  

Son #1 is about as interested in the whole affair as the sons-in-law and the hubs.

Me: “We’re not doing cards this year.”

Son #2: “WHAT???????  What do you mean?” (Note to all of you who use all caps when sending me a message on Facebook) All caps mean that you are yelling at me. I know you don’t know that.   hope and pray you don’t know that. Please stop yelling at me.)  

Me (with my best-dejected texting voice): “Daughter #1 doesn’t want to take them. I guess there won’t be any Christmas cards in Whoville this year.”

Son #2 -“What’s a Whoville?” Some people just don’t get my attempts at humor.

Last Ditch Effort To Save Christmas Cards 2013

Then son #2 arrives home from college and talks to daughter #3 and they get in cahoots and vow to break daughter #1 down on Thanksgiving Day.  

It makes me wonder if they will be bringing a torture kit with them! I’m excited! Can daughter #1 still play the piano and guitar with one or two fewer fingers? I need to Google that!

I admit it’s hard to get 13 people together for a picture and for all 13 to look good. But, hey, it’s just one measly day out of the year. And, technically, since they are MY cards, I’m the only one that has to look good. Right?

I Raised A Bunch Of Wusses

Good grief! Did I raise a bunch of wusses?  

Daughter #3 and son #2 failed miserably at getting daughter #1 to relent. I guess they forgot the torture kit after all. They must not watch the same TV show that I watch!  If you want something done right . . .

So I hatched up a plan. I conspired with photographer daughter #3 to set up her tripod just as we sat down for Thanksgiving Dinner. I told everyone to smile as she raced back to her seat and hit the remote. Click.  

When I anxiously uploaded the pics, they looked like Thanksgiving pictures! I mean, hello, the entire table was screaming Thanksgiving Day at the top of its lungs!

So, it was a bust. And daughter #1 won. Are we really keeping score? Yes!

Store-Bought Christmas Cards? Are You For Real?

My ever-so-helpful husband suggested I go to the store and buy Christmas cards and just send them out.

I tried my best to work up a tear or two as I spoke in a sad, sad voice, “I’ve sent picture cards every Christmas since the kids were babies.

Our friends and family expect them. Our church family expects them. No store-bought cards for me. I guess, sob, slobber, swallow loudly, that we just won’t send out cards this year.”  Boo. Hoo.

He wasn’t fooled one bit by me trying to work up a little sympathy. Men just don’t get it. Everything’s always so simple to them. No cards. No drama. It’s no big deal.

The Grandkids Save Christmas Cards 2013

In the end, only mere days away from Christmas day, we finally had our Christmas pic done with the grandkids. It was magical! Pixie dust floated in the air. Woodland fairies spirited about. The animals from the forest all gathered round to watch.  

OK, that part was in my mind, but there was no drama.  The grandkids didn’t care which pic I choose for our Christmas cards. They actually posed better than my grown children.  

I mean, they were like little models just strutting their stuff. It was quick and easy. It was painless.

Forget the children. There are some new kids in town! The grandkids have it going on! Who needs drama?

This is a little different from my usual Faithful Friday post, but today I’m thanking God for my wonderful family, even when I don’t get my own way!

You May Also Like To Read These Posts

• The Dreaded Family Christmas Photo (Christmas Cards 2014)
• Best Christmas Games For Groups
• Mocha Punch (Family Traditions)