A couple of weeks ago we had our own family photos booked. I had picked our outfits with care, the photographer had chosen a great location, I had been thinking about them and so excited about them for days.

Fall is a crazy busy time to year for photographers, so the only time our schedules meshed with Nicole (my amazing friend from NC Photography) was in the morning. I was a bit worried about it being too cold, but I was confident it would work.

The morning came, I was up early, did my hair, we got all done up and we were off.

It was a disaster. A total. Complete. Disaster.

Callum was a sick, snotty, miserable mess. He was irritable, uncooperative, and the most devastating to me – he wanted nothing to do with me. I couldn’t hold him, he kept pushing me away, I promise you he was acting like I was a horrible mother. Thank goodness I knew our photographer because it was embarrassing!

In the end, we got maybe 3 photos. It just wasn’t working. I ended up calling it off, everyone was persevering but Callum was crying and cold and it just wasn’t worth it.

So when I tell you “I get it” – I do. Trust me. We’re a family too. We have a child with bad days, and moods, and now that he’s motoring around we can’t control his every move. So I’m not judging you. I don’t think you’re terrible when your child is too busy exploring to want to have their picture taken. And TRUST me, I understand that sometimes kids are just having a bad day.

Other than the fact that I want amazing photos of our family as we grow, this is the reason we get photos done every year. It is SO important for us to remember what it’s like to be on the other side of the camera. What it feels like when the photographer is telling you to make your child sit on your lap and it’s just not happening. I get it. I remember. And I will do absolutely everything possible to make your kids have fun and to capture some beautiful memories. We’ll work with them. If we have to play, we’ll play. If they need a snack, they can stop for a snack. It’s not a race.

We got home from our shoot, Callum stripped off his pants, and came downstairs to set up for a shoot I had in an hour. He plopped down in the middle of our studio and I snapped this while I was testing the light. They really don’t do what you want, when you want, do they?

p.s. Nicole tried again with us this morning and everything was wonderful. Callum is a busy boy but she jumped and danced around and made him laugh and caught his attention. Now I can’t wait to see them!