What to Remember When Taking Pictures on Christmas Morning

As I was going through my camera after Christmas last year, I had to chuckle as I tried to find those perfect shots of our perfect Christmas.

This is what I found instead and decided to share with you so you will remember when you are trying to get those perfect shots on Christmas morning what really qualifies as a perfect photo.

You can forget about being in a photo yourself. Unless you can sign your name to each photo taken, there will be no proof that you were even there for Christmas. (And if there was a picture, it is pretty safe to say you deleted it before anyone had a chance to see it.)

Your subjects will move right when you snap the photo.

When you try to get pictures of the kids playing with their new toys, they will most likely be playing with the toys their siblings received.

Not everyone will cooperate with you. Okay, let's be realistic- no one will cooperate! And some photos may come out dark.

Hair will most likely still be messy from their night of dreaming about Christmas morning.

When you ask them to look at you, they will probably break out into some awkward pose you have never seen before. This is probably due to their extreme excitement.

But.... those aren't really the shots you will want to remember for years to come anyway.

The poses you will want to take are the ones when no one is looking at the camera because they are snuggling and so involved in the special Christmas movie that comes after all the gifts have been opened.

The photos of a happy child playing next to his exhausted father.

The smiles of gratitude for a day that went above expectations.

The sparkle of eyes that are truly experiencing Christmas and all of its thrill for the first time.

The way your child clings to his daddy because for some glorious reason, that he doesn't understand, Daddy didn't have to go to work today.

Your husband and son playing with each other and interacting with each other the way only fathers and sons can.

Because, after all, Christmas isn't about the presents under the tree. It is about relationships. The relationship that God wants to have with us, so He sent His Son Jesus as a Baby that first Christmas so long ago.