Saturday, December 15, 2012

In which we discuss what Primo should get his mom and dad for Christmas

Me: Do you want me to order one of these photos of you for your mom and dad's present?

Primo: I don't know.

Me: Well, you need to decide. It would be much easier for you to carry it with you [when he visits them next weekend - I will be at home watching Season 2 of The Big C and eating Fritos - guess which one of us will enjoy our weekend more?] on the plane then to mail it later.

Primo: I don't know. You mean one of the photos Tommy and Sandy took?

When we had our photos done last spring so I could give my mom a photo of us to get her off my back. Any time she visits, she waits until she has packed her car and is ready to pull out of the driveway to ask to take a photo of Primo and me together.

I love my mother, but I abhor the photo-taking experience as she defines it. It was torture throughout my childhood and it is torture know. She takes forever trying to pose me and I NEVER LOOK GOOD. NEVER! Plus, when she wants to take the photo of Primo and me just before she leaves, it's first thing in the morning before either of us has bathed or dressed nicely. She never asks when we are all dressed up to go to dinner.

I told Primo I wanted to have a professional photographer take a photo of us, send it to my mom, and tell her we were done - that that was the last photo of me she would get. I am not enduring any more of my mom's photography.

BTW, it is not just I who feels this way. A few years ago, my brother, sister, and I were at my mom's for Christmas. We told her that her Christmas present from us was that she could take photos of us. We all grinned and bore it. I HATE HAVING MY PHOTO TAKEN.

Me: Yes.

Primo: But I like the one the campaign guy took better.

Me: Fine. Then let's get that one.

Primo: I don't have a high-resolution version of the file.

Me: So ask the photographer if you can have a better image.

Primo: Do you really think I'm going to try to track him down?

Me: Fine. Then how about one of the photos from Tommy and Sandy?

Primo: I don't know. I just don't think my parents would be very excited to get a photo of me.

Me: Are you kidding me?

Primo: What?

Me: Are you really saying that your mom and dad don't think a photo of you would be the best Christmas present ever?

Primo: Yeah. I don't think they'd care that much.

Me: Really.

Primo: Oh. You mean because they gave us a photo of themselves for Christmas?

Me: Yeah. That.

2 comments:

  1. as a mom, i have asked my girls to just give me photos of themselves for gifts, it worked for my mother, too. it's a good idea and better than a gift you don't really want or need.
    I just discovered your blog and am reading backwards...maybe i need to find the first entry. In any case, it is entertaining/interesting, especially after the wicked national election and reading on line comments that had me both scared and embarrassed at the evil and stupid things people wrote about both candidates.

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    Replies
    1. hi Gretchen! Glad to have you!

      I would rather have a photo than something I don't want. I don't know how far back you've read, but the photo and gift drama with Primo's parents. Holy smoke. At least the photo they gave us can be stuck in a drawer. The book his mom sent me - despite her complaints that I am cheap because I prefer to get my books from the library, so she KNOWS I don't like to own books - meant first, identifying who had sent the book, because amazon did not include a packing slip. Then I had to do the paperwork to return it. Then I had to carry it with me to work (I take the bus and walk several blocks to the stop, so carrying things is a pain). Then I had to take it to the mailroom and send it out. All this for something I neither asked for nor wanted.

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