Portrait Fiasco

Our church does a directory every five years or so and today was our appointment. I went shopping to find the perfectly coordinating outfits. I talked to the kids about what we would be doing. I made sure they were fed and calm before we left. When we got there, Drew crossed his arms and said he was not getting his picture taken. Blake echoed a, "No taken!" I got Blake out once, and in trying to convince Drew to get out, Blake got back in the van. Oy. So, I got him back out, and Eric played a close man-on-man defense with him. I dragged Drew out of the van. Really. I was getting desperate. We got him out and headed to the doors. Drew lagged behind, reminding us that he was not getting his picture taken and hmmmmppph. Blake went inside and played with the toys they had set up in the coatroom. I checked us in and explained that Drew was still unconvinced about the prospect of getting his picture taken.

Eric had gone out and tried to convince him to come in. He stayed by the door. I went out and talked to him. I bribed him, saying that if he went in and got his picture taken we'd go to Grandma and Grandpa's house and maybe to McDonalds. He went in the building. And sat down right inside the door. They called our name, so I picked Drew up. Yes, I picked all eighty pounds of him up. I got him into the hall where the pictures were being taken. He backed himself up against the wall and refused again to cooperate. Blake started to run off, and I grabbed him. He hit and kicked. I am sure the photographer was a very nice man. He stood there, kind of dumbfounded at the whole debacle. I asked him how long of a time slot he had for us. I think he said fifteen minutes. I told him we'd need five minutes and went back to convincing. It was a lot of flailing arms and legs and I ended up getting bit by Blake. Drew ran back outside before I could catch him.

Another photographer came over to try to talk to Blake. He was slowly warming up when her next session showed up. She said, "Well, I gotta take care of these people" and off she went. Our photographer stayed in the corner by his backdrop. I tried to get Drew back in the hall, but he wouldn't budge. I went back in and Eric was still trying to get Blake off the floor. I said, "Are we going to just forget it or what?" Eric agreed that it wasn't happening.

We thanked the photographer and went to retrieve Drew and tell him we were leaving. When I told him, he said, "I'm not leaving!" Of course. And Blake ran off to the van. I wanted to help bring Drew back to the van, but I also knew I was about to burst into tears, so I left Drew to Eric.

And I went in the van and started crying. Eric came in and told me it was no big deal, that it's just a picture, not that important in the grand scheme of things. In the middle of this, Drew says, "What's your problem?" lol. We went to my mom and dad's house, which is literally across the street and we went inside. When they saw me crying, they were a little surprised, and said, "I take it the pictures didn't go well?"

It took awhile to get the kids calm, but eventually they went back to normal. Mom and I took the boys in the car to the drive thru at McDonald's and Wendy's to get food for everyone and we went back to their house. They were very sweet, as always and got my mind off the whole incident. We ended up playing cards while the kids watched cartoons.

I know Eric is right, that it's just a picture. I shouldn't get so worked up about it. For most people, getting everyone's outfit coordinated is the hardest part of having their family picture taken. I had a little trouble with that, too, but let me tell you, that was the easy part. Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair that something so simple has to be such an ordeal. It's times like this when I dwell on how difficult most things are with the boys.

I know they can't help it. I need to remember that whole event was probably more difficult for them than it was for us. Still, it's not always fun.