Sending out Christmas cards is an exercise in futility for me — mostly because I’m a poor tool. When it comes to choosing a family picture to include on one of those trendy postcards created online with favorite snapshots and heartfelt messages, I fall down on the job every time. Never mind that I’m the mom and supposed to have my you-know-what together. Clearly, I don’t. Each year it seems to be a supreme challenge to find a recent photo in which everyone is smiling appropriately, having a good hair day and happens to be facing the camera. And since my husband is notorious for blinking in practically every picture we take, the struggle is undeniably real.
“Open your eyes!” I shout after the eleventy-seventh failed attempt to capture the moment.
“My eyes are open!” my husband invariably defends.
Then, of course, I’m forced to thrust my iPhone beneath his nose in order to prove that his eyes were indeed shut. The four of us then rearrange ourselves to fit within the frame of the camera once more and repeat the insanity until the kids flatly refuse to humor me by posing at all. They’re teenagers, so that goes with the territory, I suppose. But they’re also uniquely gifted in the selfie department. Me, not so much. So when they max out on the exasperation scale and thereby abandon the cause, the opportunity for preserving a treasured Kodak Moment dies yet again.
Thanks to Tish O’Connor and her incredible photographic talents, however, I was able to include some beautiful senior pictures of our daughters on our Christmas card. There were literally hundreds to choose from. I somehow managed to take a decent snapshot of our dog and included that, too. But, of course, I was reminded of my shortcomings, having forgotten to add our cat to the mix. A cardinal sin.
“How could you forget Binx, Mom?! He’s family.”
I honestly have no clue how I could have possibly forgotten the cat, given that he’s constantly underfoot or demanding that I share my Cheetos with him. Go figure.
And because the universe apparently hates me, only half my head shows in the photo I decided to use of our family this year. Confession: I did it last year, too. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to edit the stupid thing to perfectly fit within the constraints of the aforementioned trendy online greeting card company. I had one job — to adjust our photo appropriately so that each individual would be entirely contained within an eight square inch rectangle. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. What’s more, I failed to recognize that envelopes weren’t included in my order. So in a desperate attempt to remedy the situation and make it look as though I knew what I was doing all along, I purchased nine boxes of holiday cards — ones that will house the photo card in question (with any luck).
No one ever said I was gifted, just crafty.
On the bright side, Elton John is pictured photobombing us. Well, he’s not actually photobombing us. His picture was plastered on the side of a truck that we happened to be standing in front of while attending one of his concerts this past fall. A good time was had by all, so I felt it necessary to gather the whole crew together for a family snapshot to commemorate the event.
I’m not sure how Elton would feel about being on our holiday greeting card, but I’m guessing he’d be pleased — especially since I didn’t cut his head off with my pitiful editing skills.
Planet Mom: It’s where I live, probably addressing Christmas cards. Visit me there at http://www.melindawentzel.com and http://www.Facebook.com/NotesfromPlanetMom.
Season’s Greetings
Sending out Christmas cards is an exercise in futility for me — mostly because I’m a poor tool. When it comes to choosing a family picture to include on one of those trendy postcards created online with favorite snapshots and heartfelt messages, I fall down on the job every time. Never mind that I’m the mom and supposed to have my you-know-what together. Clearly, I don’t. Each year it seems to be a supreme challenge to find a recent photo in which everyone is smiling appropriately, having a good hair day and happens to be facing the camera. And since my husband is notorious for blinking in practically every picture we take, the struggle is undeniably real.
“Open your eyes!” I shout after the eleventy-seventh failed attempt to capture the moment.
“My eyes are open!” my husband invariably defends.
Then, of course, I’m forced to thrust my iPhone beneath his nose in order to prove that his eyes were indeed shut. The four of us then rearrange ourselves to fit within the frame of the camera once more and repeat the insanity until the kids flatly refuse to humor me by posing at all. They’re teenagers, so that goes with the territory, I suppose. But they’re also uniquely gifted in the selfie department. Me, not so much. So when they max out on the exasperation scale and thereby abandon the cause, the opportunity for preserving a treasured Kodak Moment dies yet again.
Thanks to Tish O’Connor and her incredible photographic talents, however, I was able to include some beautiful senior pictures of our daughters on our Christmas card. There were literally hundreds to choose from. I somehow managed to take a decent snapshot of our dog and included that, too. But, of course, I was reminded of my shortcomings, having forgotten to add our cat to the mix. A cardinal sin.
“How could you forget Binx, Mom?! He’s family.”
I honestly have no clue how I could have possibly forgotten the cat, given that he’s constantly underfoot or demanding that I share my Cheetos with him. Go figure.
And because the universe apparently hates me, only half my head shows in the photo I decided to use of our family this year. Confession: I did it last year, too. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to edit the stupid thing to perfectly fit within the constraints of the aforementioned trendy online greeting card company. I had one job — to adjust our photo appropriately so that each individual would be entirely contained within an eight square inch rectangle. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. What’s more, I failed to recognize that envelopes weren’t included in my order. So in a desperate attempt to remedy the situation and make it look as though I knew what I was doing all along, I purchased nine boxes of holiday cards — ones that will house the photo card in question (with any luck).
No one ever said I was gifted, just crafty.
On the bright side, Elton John is pictured photobombing us. Well, he’s not actually photobombing us. His picture was plastered on the side of a truck that we happened to be standing in front of while attending one of his concerts this past fall. A good time was had by all, so I felt it necessary to gather the whole crew together for a family snapshot to commemorate the event.
I’m not sure how Elton would feel about being on our holiday greeting card, but I’m guessing he’d be pleased — especially since I didn’t cut his head off with my pitiful editing skills.
Planet Mom: It’s where I live, probably addressing Christmas cards. Visit me there at http://www.melindawentzel.com and http://www.Facebook.com/NotesfromPlanetMom.
Melinda Wentzel
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