The 5th annual Christmas card debacle

As all of you who are parents know, when Christmastime rolls around there is a rush to get that elusive "perfect" picture of your child(ren) to send out to friends and family who you rarely see. You want a picture of your child(ren) in all their shining glory so that said friends and family can ooh and ah over the photo for all of three seconds, place the card on their mantle (or wherever they display all their cards) and then promptly dispose of it the day after Christmas. Little do they know the pain and suffering all have endured to get that perfect picture. The threats hissed through gritted teeth, the begging and pleading for just. one. more. picture, the bribery. Oh, the bribery. (Which very rarely works by the way).

And so, for those of you who may not experience this each year, allow me to share mine with you.

It starts out nice enough.
But quickly goes downhill.
I called it quits for that day and took a few individual shots figuring I can at least make a card at one of the online photo sites using those.

I give it another try at a local gardening center. This place is always beautifully decorated and at midday during the week, there is hardly anyone there.

Unfortunately, things don't go much better there than at home.

My personal favorite reject:
And then you do get a good one. Not necessarily perfect but a pretty darn good one. And it just so happens to be the very first picture you snapped on this outing.