" i will not waste athers t i m e s again"

April 30, 2013

so i pulled out an old school parenting technique today...my eldest daughter made me wait for 40 minutes after school today with no care that I was standing outside waiting! i'm rather busy and that inconsiderate behaviour really irritated me... so i made her do "lines" when we got home, for real... old fashion lines. "i will not waste others time again" ...75 of them, which took about 40 minutes!

I then asked if she liked using up 40 minutes of HER time doing lines...she said "NO". Well then "tickles" I found your achilles heel haven't i.

alice, this is your last wonderland...

April 30, 2013

first borns get so much awesome stuff , seriously! they got all the one on one parent attention, they were doted, cooed and coddled over...they could write their name, knew every animal and could count to 10 in another language by the age of two and a half. do i even need to mention the loads of unnecessary retail products we purchased for them, probably not! then theres the second child, well your just pleased their accounted for in the car with pants on inside out, hair unbrushed, day old snack in hand and their shoes on duckfeet style....asking "mom, what comes after the number 5"? now, this in no way implies that you love them any less then the first, your just WAY busier.

same goes for birthdays, my first born got home based, mommy made fondent cakes with hours of prep going into decorations and goody bags. hours and weeks where spent on THE BIRTHDAY.

the second got (drum role please), the YMCA party. done and DONE.

what's the problem you ask, mommy guilt! i keep hearing my european mother say "yu du evereee ting fair" (you do every thing fair) between your children that is and i could say with clarity it wasn't "fair" in my house when it came to the birthday parties!

this is my last year of hanging with my second born...soon to be a full time "student".

kindergarden...sigh.

i broke. well, she broke me (actually), with requests of tea, cookies and a riveting game of freeze dance all to be done at home with her closest friends. FINE CHILD! (i screamed)," you will have your birthday at home" (but between you, me and the fence post i secretly desired to make a special birthday at home for her, to make it fair!).

and so began the alice in wonderland prep, as i suspected...many hours were gobble up to make this birthday special (between the research, sourcing, buying, hunting in my garage for props and setup). finally, we were ready to have the party only to be postponed on the eve of her big day due to her sister catching the stomach flu...bummer.

four days later it was back on (thank god).

it wasn't the fanciest, nor did i make the cupcakes (thank you dina neil of red velvet cakes) but it was just about perfect for a wee little alice and her tea attired posse of preschoolers (ohh.. try saying that 10 times fast)!

and my mommy guilt is done and DONE!

for the love of sweet baby jesus...."look at the camera kids and smile"

February 27, 2013

smiling in a photograph is highly overrated, personally I prefer kids sucking their thumbs! In all seriousness smiling is awesome but when mom and dad are forcing the words "look at the camera kids and smile" through gritted teeth with their own fake plastered smiles... the results are... welllll, less then natural! i think we've been conditioned by society to "pretend" that our live's are (pardon the pun) "picture perfect". we've been groomed to believe that a perfect smiling family photo is a great representation of the ideal modern family, staged in the best location, behaving as we should….i call BULL SH**! were far from this "normal" in most cases and so why should be pretend too be perfect when we are not. so let your hair down, trash the ties, leave some dirt on your kids and break away from "picture perfect"! why not show your family's true personalities... raw, real, fun and in the moment!

i want you to ask yourself what images that you currently have that evoke a "feeling" when you see them. is it that "perfect" family photo of everyone posed and smiling in a studio OR is it the one of your daughter catching her first fish with grandpa screaming with joy or maybe it's all your little people sitting in a chair together reading books after a long day, the blanket fort maybe?…perhaps, it's the one of your son crying because he got up way to early and he's a total yard sale of emotions!

so it's the REAL MOMENTS right, i thought so! why? because deep down we all realize that childhood doesn't last, your kids are getting bigger by the minute and eventually they stop doing the things that you loved and admired (or maybe it irritated you at the time) but in looking back now you kinda miss them just being kids! did you know that you only have 18 summers with your children, scary thought!

so your question to me is why i'm bringing this up, making you all weepy and sentimental so early or late in the day? well, i want you all to stop being so conventional with your photography. period. start documenting your families life unscripted, more as it unfolds and less structured. start taking pictures of your kids not looking at the camera, take pictures of the toys they play with, catch them sleeping and stop asking them to SMILE all the time! if taking your own images is not your gig and you like using a professional or maybe you do both, then hire one that suits your style of photography. have them come along to a planned event or a non planned event for that matter, hang out in your house for an afternoon while baking with grandma or maybe it's just a lazy sunday! whatever that may be, after your session i suggest that you plaster your walls with the amazing images, make some books out of them and buy some more tissue folks because your home will ooze of love, character and your true selves.

lastly, believe in the Photographer you've hired for the job, if you've done your research…trust in them to capture a perfect reflection of your families dynamic AT THAT MOMENT! whether that's all smiles, throwing tantrums, picking their noses or the shy phase. the photographer will make it look magical, because that's what were paid to do. work our magic!

below are some ideas for displaying your portraits and i've also added a few of my own family images, enjoy!

check out kristen duke's site, there's some amazing ideas for displaying /hanging your portraits!!

http://www.kristendukephotography.com/decorating-with-portraits-contributor-recap-of-favorite-ideas/

these hangs out right above my desk, talk about loving my work space view...