Picking battles

On Saturday, at a photoshoot, the mother of my subject asks me not to get too many "butt shots". A novice photographer would have been confused, but I knew where this conversation was going. My client was a three year old who had dressed herself. "Thankfully, I talked her out of the purple princess dress," said the frazzled mom, "but this [too short] one was the only other thing I could get her to wear."

I admit I felt like bit of a smug mama. I don't usually entertain clothing wars with my Little Man. And that is probably because he rarely argues with me about what to wear. Except when it comes to his beloved pajamas which he wants. to. wear. every.where.

This morning Hudson had his first dental appointment. The goal was to get him in before 1. he truly needed a dentist and 2. I had two kids to juggle. Stupidly I scheduled it so we needed to get up and leave before he was truly awake. Hence, we had a disagreement about whether PJs were acceptable attire for a dentist visit at the crack of dawn. (Well, it felt like dawn.) He won that battle. That is what I get for feeling smug.

Overall he did really well. He was mostly cooperative and patient.

See how he is holding my hand?

At one point he insisted that I sit on the chair with him. So please imagine a pregnant woman in a dental chair with huge belly sticking out and a 34 pound two year old laying on top of her. The hygienist put me basically flat on my back. Our little people pyramid didn't last long as that was incredibly uncomfortable. So much for not having to juggle multiple kids!

No one cared that Hudson was wearing motorcycle pajamas. Much like the mama from Saturday's shoot, I knew that survival with a toddler is about picking your battles. Now if I knew how to to keep a three year old from proudly showing off her big girl undies through an entire photo session.