The Great Christmas Photo Disaster of 2022

You know that Pinterest-perfect Christmas photo where everyone is smiling and the dog is sitting angelically? Yeah, that’s not what happened here.

The Great Christmas Photo Disaster of 2022

I had this grand vision of a beautiful family Christmas photo for our holiday cards. I set up the timer, arranged everyone on the couch, adjusted the lighting, and gave my family a pep talk that would make a football coach proud. “Just smile naturally,” I said. “This will only take a few minutes,” I lied.

Forty-five minutes later, I had mastered the art of running back and forth between the camera and the couch while Marcus sat there looking increasingly dead inside.

The exact moment everything went sideways.

Sophie perfected her eye-roll technique, Theo discovered seventeen new ways to not sit still, and Biscuit apparently thought this was the most entertaining game we’d ever invented. Every single shot had some combination of: Biscuit’s tail, someone blinking, Theo making dinosaur faces, or Sophie looking like she was being tortured.

Elena in full director mode. Take 23.

The final “winner” features Biscuit mid-face-lick on Marcus, Theo caught in what appears to be the world’s most violent sneeze, and Sophie with an eye-roll so epic it could power a small city. And you know what?

Post-photo shoot exhaustion is real.

After we all collapsed in exhaustion, I realized this disaster photo captures our family perfectly. We’re chaos. We’re loud. We’re slightly unhinged. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

So Merry Christmas from the Hartwells - may your holidays be as beautifully imperfect as ours. And may your dogs have better timing than Biscuit.