Dressing My Kids For Family Photo Session

This is my family portrait, taken by the wonderfully talented Cat Black Photo. 

I love love love this photo. But preparing for my own family session makes me realised what a challenge it is to get my kids dressed according to my plans!

My son, in particular, has a 'strong personality' when it comes to... well, getting him to do anything he doesn't want to do. 

If your kids are anything like mine, getting them dressed can be world war III. So I've learnt a few things:

• Make sure the clothes you prepared for them are clothes that they've worn before and liked. Try them on a week before the session to make sure they fit well and are comfortable. 
  
  
• If they're brand new, make sure the tags don't irritate your children. (cut them off and smooth out the edge if necessary).
   
• Have contingency plans: if your child downright refuses to wear what you have prepared, is there something else he/she likes that doesn't clash too badly with everyone's clothing? 
  
  
• Put it on in the morning, don't try and get them changed just before your session. (Because if they don't want to do it at that time, it'll cause arguments, tears, and general unhappiness.)
  
  
• Put a jacket on to protect clothes from getting dirty before your session, but make sure it's not one that you absolutely don't want to see in your photos, just in case your child refuses to take it off. 
  
  
• Let it go... Let it go... Occasionally my son gets fixated on what he wants to wear for his photo session, and I know forcing him into what I want him to wear would just make him irritable and uncooperative. So... I suck it up. Take a deep breath. And let it go... 
  
  

See the grey guitar t-shirt my son has on? Well, that was supposed to be a gorgeous green t-shirt that harmonises with my dark green top and baby sister's light green collar. He flat out refused to wear it that morning despite previously agreed to do so. I had to just take a deep breath and let it go...

But you know what? This photo of my family happy together is so precious to me. That dominating big guitar graphic (and the fact that he wasn't wearing what I planned) does not bother me one bit!