Child ruins every picture!

[DebbieB]

i hope you never tell her you think she ruined your pictures. What a harsh thing to say about your own granddaughter...

Not if she did it intentionally. Sounds like she's looking for attention so saying something would make it all the more fun for her.

 

[King Schultz]

Not if she did it intentionally. Sounds like she's looking for attention so saying something would make it all the more fun for her.

I suspect it was more the OP looking for attention.

 

[Turn the Page]

Ugh, obnoxious child behavior. My stepdaughter's mother recently taught her the tongue out/peace sign pose. Of course, stepdaughter can't quite master it so it's her coyly peeking behind her hand with her middle, index, and thumb sticking out while she also sticks out her tongue. She looks absolutely ridiculous. I'm not sure if it's better or worse that stepdaughter is only 6.

I used to absolutely hate having my picture taken. I was extremely self conscious for years. I still have flashbacks from all the years when my brother and I would have to get all dressed up to pose in front of the Christmas tree so my Dad could take the family Christmas picture. Jesus I hated it. It was hours of nit picking, overly critical "look this way, tilt your head. your smile looks fake, your cheeks are sticking out, lean your head the other way, now look down, oh now look over......" It was horrible. It took me decades to get comfortable in front of a camera again. My mom still tries to bark orders at me though. Heck, when taking pictures after our wedding she hollered at me from across the river that my jaw was sticking out and wanted to know if I was clenching my teeth. I wasn't before but after that I was.

For many years, and even still sometimes now, I would have killed to be allowed to sit out of pictures.

 

[bethbuchall]

I would have to know what the OP means by 'mugging'...

I also am thinking that this was a family vacation, NOT somebodies wedding/graduation/etc.
I would not have similar expectations for two very different situations.
I am thinking that this might be a factor for the OP.
Unrealistic expectations will always end with disappointment.

Having said that, I can see both sides!!!
The kid's behavior would have to be pretty darned bad (not just some 'mugging') for me to think that the photos were just ruined.
I am also one of those who puts a lot of value in these kinds of photos.
I have a husband and a son who have not...
Not until more recently, when there is some opportunity to bring out my great photo-books!!!

Asking, for example, for that one pick on main street would be like pulling teeth.
My son is MUCH MUCH MUCH better now!!!!! (so, have some hope, OP!!!) He actively participated in a quick photoshoot with the resort photographer on our last trip to Mexico. Wanted to do one of the 'jump on the beach' like one is jumping into a pool, shot.

Also, my husband is one of those guys who just never focused on how to smile or pose... (it doesn't come off naturally for everyone!!!) So, in some photos his half-smile comes off like Clint Eastwood... I always say... "There's another 'make my day' picture!!!" Hahahaha!!!!

You have described my family to a T, especially my husband. No one wants their photos taken and don't have the desire to have the photos that I do. To be honest, I hate having my picture taken, too, but I do want the photo documentation of the event. And my husband is just so unnatural when he has to smile and pose. That Clint Eastwood description is perfect.

 

[bethbuchall]

Cool, cool, we're narrowing it down. North to Jersey but south of Boston.

And not as far west as central NYS. Around here mugging for the camera is making silly faces.

 

[dbogen]

And not as far west as central NYS. Around here mugging for the camera is making silly faces.

CT Here - so in the middle. Mugging for the camera is making silly faces.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I totally see the problem with the kids' behavior, but I just don't think pictures are ever "ruined" if everyone is there and not like...flipping the bird.

 

[Vernie822]

I know for me there's a difference between those classic pictures that the kids do something unexpectedly (where you laugh about it for years) versus when your child is doing something deliberately for 7 days straight in 300 different pictures.

YES! We have so many pictures with one of my brothers making some goofy/awkward face, just because that's what happens when you try to line up 5 kids for a Christmas photo. We laugh about them. That's different than a tween/teenager purposely goofing off or refusing to smile in a photo.

 

[BumbleB]

I'll share my experience with MM. I purchased it for our Dec trip last year. DH was NOT enthused. Not. At. All. He doesn't like having his picture taken, but I really, really wanted some with us together. So he begrudgingly agreed. And in almost every single picture he is making a funny face. Or a silly pose. My dad joined us for a day, and he behaved himself (mostly). Now, six months later, the goofy pictures are my favorites. This year, he can make as many funny faces and silly poses as he wants. That's a reflection of his personality. If a perfect picture is that important, and if one of the kids can't or won't behave, leave them out of the pictures. They will probably change their tune quickly enough, though I can't imagine ignoring my parents (and grandparents!) when they asked that I behave myself, especially when we were on vacation, but that's another issue all together.

 

[Minnesota!]

Yeesh, folks. I wasn't trying to claim that my region's* use of the term is the one and only "correct" way. (Nor is your use "correct," just regionally different, even if that's the way it's more commonly used.) When I realized that other people were defining it differently than I've ever heard before, I said I hoped the OP would clarify how s/he was using the word. 'Cuz, you know, apparently the meaning changes depending on where you live, so I don't know if the twelve year old was duck-facing and giving bunny ears or refusing to smile, and I was just trying to understand the context.

Now, out of curiosity, what does 'mug' mean to everyone else? As in, "The first thing I saw when I opened the door was his mug." Around here it means 'ugly face.'

*DC/Baltimore

MN and Mugging is Ice Cube. Also, ruined pics are ones without everyone in it. With silly faces or mean Mugging....not ruined.

 

[Aliceacc]

I think that "ruined" or "not ruined" is in the eye of the beholder, and in the eye of the person who purchased Memory Maker, hoping for some nice, frameable pictures of the whole family.

And I agree that kids will be kids. But this 13 year old-- a 7th grader, not a 7 year old-- was apparently asked to stop, and chose not to. At that point, I think it was appropriate to let her know that there would be some family pictures she wouldn't be a part of if she chose not to give her grandparents the type of photos they wanted.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I have two children and I've worked with children of all ages and abilities for years. I'm really having a hard time imagining a child who was "mugging for the camera" and then asked several times to quit, and asked in the right way, who absolutely refused to stop. If they're uncomfortable I could see them, after being asked to stop, not smiling or looking a little perturbed. I just cannot imagine one, outside of being manic and needing medication, completely not stopping.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I have two children and I've worked with children of all ages and abilities for years. I'm really having a hard time imagining a child who was "mugging for the camera" and then asked several times to quit, and asked in the right way, who absolutely refused to stop. If they're uncomfortable I could see them, after being asked to stop, not smiling or looking a little perturbed. I just cannot imagine one, outside of being manic and needing medication, completely not stopping.

I've met quite a few.

Most of them have never been made to behave. Mom and Dad think their little snowflake shouldn't be made to behave.. And that if they are, you are ruining their creative being.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Ehhh. When one of the dear relations was in HS, we took her and sibling to WDW. Got a bunch of cute photos at Epcot one day. . .but she was wearing a shirt that said "I hate your smile." Now, several years later, it is something we can tease her about relentlessly.

 

[hsmamato2]

My daughter made a sour face in every picture from our trip 2 years ago. When I made my photo book those were the pics I had so I used them. In 10 years she's going to wonder why she did that

After years and years of different kids going through that 'phase'.... unless it's a really serious fancy professional setup,like someones special wedding photo I just have to laugh at those dingbat faces kids make..... I have SO many funny shots from over the years, and I actually like the ones with a little personality (even teenage personality!) showing through- it's a standing family joke with certain family members and group photos...... "Smile!" ...... "but I AM smiling!" our last trip my son (who thinks he's smiling lol) asked me "WHY do you post a photo of me looking like that online?" um...well it's b/c you look like that in every pic!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I've met quite a few.

Most of them have never been made to behave. Mom and Dad think their little snowflake shouldn't be made to behave.. And that if they are, you are ruining their creative being.

I guess I've been very lucky. I've run into that a tiny bit, but only maybe once or twice that I remember.

But I thought in this case the parents WERE trying to make her behave - so that's what's hard for me to understand.

 

[Vijoge]

I don't think someone making a silly face, or a grumpy face means the picture isn't "nice". Sometimes it's the thing that keeps the picture from being boring/ordinary.

 

[Vijoge]

OP, I was having a canvas print made of my oldest DS and his family for Christmas this last year. I was trying to make sure the granddog was just right in the picture so I wasn't paying attention to what my granddaughter was doing. She was rolling her eyes! And of course, this was the best picture of everyone else!

TC

I absolutely LOVE the original photo!

 

[tzolkin]

Many people have been saying how they like the "unstaged/silly" photos because those are capturing the real memories. I totally get that and cherish many photos like that myself.

However, in this situation the child was asked repeatedly to stop and continued the behavior out of defiance. What's captured in the pictures isn't the memory of a kid being happy and goofy at Disney, it's a memory of the kid being annoying and deliberately disrespectful. I can see where the OP would be upset looking through her photos when she got home if each one reminds her of the parents harping on the kid to stop, arguing, stomping, whining, and whatever other bratty behavior occurred.

Finding some photos after the trip with silly faces where the child's joy and personality are shining through is different than having a child refuse to take even one serious photo just to purposely upset you.

 

[Magpie]

Many people have been saying how they like the "unstaged/silly" photos because those are capturing the real memories. I totally get that and cherish many photos like that myself.

However, in this situation the child was asked repeatedly to stop and continued the behavior out of defiance. What's captured in the pictures isn't the memory of a kid being happy and goofy at Disney, it's a memory of the kid being annoying and deliberately disrespectful. I can see where the OP would be upset looking through her photos when she got home if each one reminds her of the parents harping on the kid to stop, arguing, stomping, whining, and whatever other bratty behavior occurred.

Finding some photos after the trip with silly faces where the child's joy and personality are shining through is different than having a child refuse to take even one serious photo just to purposely upset you.

To be fair, that annoying and disrespectful face may be the more honest reflection of the child's personality and relationship with the rest of the family.

If after all the arguing, stomping, whining and disrespect, you somehow actually manage to browbeat, threaten and otherwise bully the kid into faking a "nice" smile for the camera... isn't that "perfect" photo actually the biggest lie of all?