Step kid portraits
OK, I was reading another entry about someone not wanting a picture of a step grand kid up in the common area of her home.
I have a slightly different issue.
My mother painted a picture of all 3 boys together (two his, one mine) from a photo SO took - and the only one who comes well out of it is YSS whose face is turned away from the camera. My boy looks like crap and OSS comes off even worse. My mother fancies herself a portraitist but she really can't paint people at all. She did a great job with the background, fabric, hair etc (YSS's hair looks GREAT!) This is a known and longstanding issue with her paintings. (sigh). She sent us a photo of the picture and although I really appreciate the sentiment - both older boys don't want it up. I don't blame them.
She's coming for Christmas and bringing the GIANT painting. (sigh)
And another slightly different issue - we are combining households soon and SO has a couple of old pictures of his kids - school pictures. I hate school pictures. Hate 'em. And I don't want them up in the new house. I know this is my issue, but... How to deal with this tactfully. I don't mind pictures of the kids up, but we don't have any candids of them. As it is, I only have one picture of my son up in the house and it's in an out-of-the way place, so it's not like I plaster pics of my kid everywhere. I understand the need to have the pics up of the kids as they're not around as much as my son. How to handle this tactfully... My plan is to get proper candids printed - but I need to get the old ones down.
- elkclan's blog
- Log in or register to post comments
Comments
Not in the bedroom or any
Not in the bedroom or any public rooms.. I like hallways for burying pictures.
As for the portrait, gush over it and then when she leaves put it in the garage. A place where happy accidents happen all the time.
My MIL also fancies herself
My MIL also fancies herself as some kind of artist. I have a stack of garbage in the garage that she "rescued" and "repurposed" but it's all still trash. Thank her and promptly hide the hideous thing once she leaves.
As for decor, I'm not a fan of photos everywhere, either. I told my DH he can hang whatever he wants in the downstairs den/fireplace area, but the main floor was off limits.
Mom's painting... like
Mom's painting... like "valuable" gifts that come from loved ones who live far away... you hang it when she is there (I agree hallways are good) and then you can take it down when she leaves... the kids can grin and bear it to spare her feelings.
Your DH's Kid pics... hall could be ok.. but also if he has an office or a space in the home that is more "him".. that might be appropriate.. you can also point out that your preference is to not decorate with kid pics.. of course there is always the ubiquitous fridge door..lol.
Buy your dh
a photo album for the old photos and then you all can go and have a pic taken that is new and updated for your wall and look at it as a new start in a combined house. You could even get some new individual shots done of the kids. As for your mom's pic, is there a room in the house like a guest room or a seperate area where her painting could be hung but not seen on a daily basis?
I am not a fan of school
I am not a fan of school portraits. What you can do is hang them up for now and once you have candid replace them. This way pics are up and you can still put what you want up. Make sure it is a frame you like and a size you would want of a candid.
As for the portrait just hang when she is over take it down when she is not there. Simply say thank you hang it somewhere no one will see it and say it just did not fit in with the decor. Be honest to some extent because the full truth always comes out.
I won't have ANY pictures of
I won't have ANY pictures of people I HATE in my home. My partner has pictures of his kids and grand kids but I used the genuine excuse that these pictures of my kids ,grandkids ,mother, and my partner's late sister were the only ones I could find when I was putting pictures on the wall in fixed frames .... ..... .
I will not have any picture of the 3 fools that I hate in my front room ( i.e. my partner's worthless son who has numerous women and STINKS to high heaven and the equally stinky fake Christian prossie sister and the niece aka the BRAT!!!!!
Good f^$$*^/g riddance!!!!!!
Step 1 - setup photo session
Step 1 - setup photo session with everyone take individual and family pics and use them instead of old pics.
Step 2 - make sure there's no extra space after decorating for huge portrait. When she bring it over say oh my that's so nice but I didn't realize how big it was. I'll have to rearrange so it fits. I'll just put it away for now so nothing happens to it.