M*A*N*I*A*C

Ok, I know this is not a common Christmas word but I have to admit when I gather the family together for a Christmas picture I am a M*A*N*I*A*C!!!!! The literal word!! LOL I pretty much take our family pictures (except last year we did use the very talented Nicki Olinde!) and it is just not a pretty scene! I try to place the toddlers correctly but one ALWAYS is doing something besides listening to me. What really gets me is the bad attitudes! I know that sounds funny because really the only one with the bad attitude is ME!! I bark at Tommy to run from side to side behind me so that he can get all the children's attention but there is always ONE or TWO that just will not look at the camera or even in the same direction as the camera! I bark at them to LOOK HERE OR ELSE!! Then I start barking at them to smile!! And who is in the mood to smile after being yelled at.....NOT THE CHILDREN!! One is crying, the other is picking on another one, the older ones are slouching. OOOOO it just gets me every year! BUT NOT THIS YEAR!! THIS YEAR I FOUND A SOLUTION!!!!!!!! Tootsie Roll Suckers!! Tommy brought home some tootsie roll suckers and I dangled thAT bag of suckers in front of the toddlers and told them that IF they listen to Mommy and do everything I tell them to do then they can have TWO tootsie roll suckers!! And it worked!! They were THE BEST!! They sat through about 10 pictures, posed, smiling, happy, sitting up straight!! It was awesome!! Praise God!! I feel like such a good Mommy this year for pictures!!