More Proof that Mom is Invisible

See these two pictures? Notice any differences between the two?

I THOUGHT SO!

You see, we had family pictures with Santa last night. David and I decided that we might as well, as one of us usually has to be in the picture anyway since my children are BORN TERRIFIED OF SANTA CLAUS! All three of my girls started out that way. 12YO has gotten past it to the point of adoring him, 5YO will tolerate him, but with her guard up, and 2YO still wants nothing to do with him. (At least she didn't cry this year, but it's taken a lot of preparation on our end!)

We've been talking to 2YO for months about Santa and how she's big now and there's nothing to be afraid of and he'll give you a candy cane and bring you presents if you sit on his lap and...

GOODNESS! This must be the only time in our parenting journey when we'll try to push our kids to sit on a stranger's lap so he'll promise them toys and give them candy! No WONDER our kids are so easily screwed up!

Anyhow, we've been 'coaching' her for a couple of months. We looked at the pictures from the previous years and talked about why they cried when they were little and why they DON'T cry, now that they're big. We even stopped by there an hour or so before David would be there to let her watch the other kids visit him through the window. We went in for a few minutes and Santa was more than happy to visit with the girls before we were getting actual pictures. He really is a sweet Santa, and he's the same one we see every year. Sooo....at first, 2YO was less than excited at the prospect of seeing Santa. I told her she needed to see him to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She then started to say that she didn't WANT presents. It must not have been worth it to her! I told her that, if she talked to him, he'd give her a candy cane.

"I don't WANT candy!"

"But, won't Christmas be sort of sad if your sisters get presents from Santa and you don't?"

"I don't care. I don't need presents!"

This took a lot of negotiating. She and Santa forged a bit of a friendship and, when we waited outside afterward, they would wave at one another through the window. At one point, I even think that she might have been flirting with our jolly friend! She would smile and lean her head against my shoulder, just like she does when she's trying to control her daddy's every move!

One day, she plans to use those dimples to rule the world!

So, in all that was going on, do you think anyone bothered to tell me that I had mascara smeared across the side of my face? ANYONE?

I've decided that all of the pictures make me look fat and drunk. I've picked the best picture of the rest of them and cropped myself out!

DID NO ONE SEE ME? DID NO ONE LOOK AT ME? It was pretty obvious, all the black streaks. WHAT THE HELL?

So, I'm glad I bought the cd. And I'm glad I know how to crop pictures! So much for making a family picture out of that one, huh? I should just go and do something drastic to my appearance.....

Think they'll notice? Yeah, me neither!