Mother's in Over Their Head: Professional Photos - the Real Sweat Shop

As a young mother of three, it's not often that I don't feel like I'm drowning in shallow water. With twins who are twenty month's old, and a ten month old to top it off, most of the time I'm chasing my own tail. A prime example would be the first photo shoot with all three of the children. I went by myself because my husband had a work emergency. Well, at the time, the girls still weren't walking. So I'm carting all three kids, who are super dressed up, with the stroller into this tiny studio in the mall. They take us into this room (which of course is horrible to try to fit the stroller into), and the photographer instructs me that I can't be farther than an arms reach from any of them.

Are you kidding me?

He keeps setting them up with William (who is laying down,) in the middle and the girls on either side. So of course they are going to go in opposite directions, and then the guy keeps telling me, "you have to get them, you have to get them."

Finally we got a few shots where they were still enough, and he walked out without saying anything, while me (who is now sweating from having to stand right underneath the light in this tiny, un-air-conditioned room) loads everybody back up. They tell me it's going to be about 15 minutes before I can view my photos. So I decide to run up to the dollar store and grab a soda and some little toy for them. To get up there, I have to go through a department store (again, terrible to navigate, and I have to go through the tools section and get around lawn mowers to boot) to get to the second floor. In the process, my purse falls off the stroller, and spills in the elevator, so it's now going back down and two of those "perfect" mom's glare at me.

That just makes me more stressed.

Well, finally I get back down, and select the best pictures. The best one, still was marred by drool running down faces, but in light of having candid, real pictures, I loved it. It was worth it overall!