Sometimes, all a mom wants for the holidays is a good photo of her family to send out as a holiday card.
Is that too much to ask? Some kids say yes.
Slideshow 16 photos
16 of the best holiday card fails
Halle Ingram, a Mississippi mom, purchased a personalized Christmas dress for a holiday photo shoot with her 2-year-old daughter. Cici was having none of it.
"She was more than unwilling to take pictures this year," Ingram told TODAY Parents. "She stuffed her mouth with a candy cane and refused to move from that pose."
Ingram says her photographer tried several tactics to persuade Cici to smile for a photo, but had no luck.
Sometimes those photo fails turn into treasured memories. Dana Kamp says she and her family will be forever amused by her sons' pained smiles in a Christmas photo from a few years ago.
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"I was in the hospital, so my mom took my four boys to a local Christmas photo shoot so we'd have a nice picture for our cards," the Florida mom said of the photo, which shows three of her boys flashing forced smiles, and the fourth looking terrified. "We couldn't stop laughing."
California mom Deva Dalporto gave in during her Christmas photo shoot last year, allowing her kids to argue and act as crazy as they pleased during part of the shoot.
"Every year, getting the perfect holiday picture for our card is a nightmare — I have to bribe and yell and nothing goes as planned," said Dalporto. "So this year, I decided to just go with it and share what really happens when we're trying to take a family photo."
"I think it's actually my favorite card we've ever made," Dalporto added.
It's not always the kids that cause a family photo fail — sometimes it's the weather.
New Hampshire photographer Brenna Jennings recently captured a windy moment during a photo shoot with clients. Jennings says some of her favorite shots are authentic moments like these.
Jennings advises her clients to let loose and enjoy their shoot, as this often makes for the best photos.
"I think the toughest shoots only happen when a family has certain expectations," said Jennings. "That 2-week-old infant isn't going to open her eyes and smile just because the rest of you are — no matter how many times I squeak her rubber giraffe — and that's OK. That's her right now, and she's a keeper."
This story was originally published in 2017.