Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Trendley Photography
Dear Mom,
My heartfelt reminder to relax. I’ve been there, I have three children ranging from 2 years old to 7. We get our photos done once a year, and its always a bit stressful. Someone is always cranky and someone is usually crying. But what makes it worse is if I lose my cool, I tend to go with a gentle approach and try to distract them or I ignore them and just start playing with the other kids. Usually they catch on and start having fun.
Let me tell you about my last family photo session, it was our last session in Hawaii, my 2 year old hated her outfit and kept crying, eventually that turned into a hard glare and she looked like she was possessed by a demon, after that my 4 year old would not participate, she was in “statue” mode and just stood there. I know this one, I grabbed her and started playing, eventually her smile couldn’t be hidden and she started having fun, right about then my 7 year old caught the “bug” and would not get in the water, she was LIVID that she was not in a swimsuit and just cried. Meanwhile it’s getting dark and we have maybe 2 photos where everyone looks like they are having fun, so I’m literally completely in the water with my 2 year old on one hip and the 4 year old on the other, my husband grabs the Amelia (the 7 year old) and drags her in the water, she was crying but also smiling. At this point it was pure protest and she was being stubborn to make her point.
I know if I had yelled or been demanding my children would have not had a good time and half the photos I would have looked like a crazy angry person. So I used what I knew would help each child and it helped, was it perfect, no; but neither are we, all in all we loved the photos and they accurately showed life with 3 kids 7 and younger.
So Mom, don’t apologize, just use what you know will help your kid(s) be in a good mood. Trust me, it will look a lot better then photos of you yelling at them or stuffing skittles in their mouth. If it’s not working, take a minute and walk away, I have a few tricks I use to help kids get in good moods for sessions.
xoxo
Chelsie
Photo of two of my kiddos for a lifestyle brand shoot of Rogue Wanderer Co