Family pictures stress me out.

I’m not sure why… clearly this is a first world problem.

Every time family pictures roll around I remind myself that they really do not matter. 

I try and remind myself that in 6 months or a year I will not care in the slightest whether or not our clothes were coordinating, whether or not everyone kept their hair in place, or even if people smiled.

I keep trying to remember that I will just be thrilled to have a picture of the little smiling faces.

This is much easier to remember after the pictures are taken.

Once upon a time we took some family pictures that were just… well horrifying.

This was by far the best one of the bunch… NO ONE is looking at the camera, what is the point of this picture?

Anyway, Zach looked horrified in every single picture. Just horrified.

Now I’m convinced we are going to have a repeat every time.

Last time we took pictures Mr. Spreadsheets asked me why I was so worried.

I couldn’t explain it… it’s just the principle of the thing!

Would the world end if one of our kids ended up muddy and crying in the picture?

Nope.

Would the world end if one of them flat out refused to participate?

Nope.

These alternatives would actually be a good representation of our actual life.

But I’m going to be honest with you.

I take these family pictures for myself.

In 20 years I want to look back and remember us on our best days. I want to remember the hair brushed and the smiling faces, rather than the screaming fits and flat out refusal to listen.

It’s naive I know.

But I want to remember the “rose colored” days, rather than the days in living color.

Until I get over this, I’m going to stress about family pictures every time they roll around.