Did you take photos/videos of dc opening their presents?

[Purpleskies46]

Did you take photos/videos of dc opening their presents?

or were you just in the moment?

I took a couple. Not posted anywhere, they’ll get printed into a photo book in the new year, I tend to do one every year now. It’s a good way to get photos off my phone and into something physical.

I took photos and videos. I also post them on SM. For me - this goes someway to fulfill an emptiness and sadness as I have no photos of me as a kid. I am estranged from my family so no happy memories or warm fuzzy feelings. My mum died when I was a toddler and this also fills me with great sadness. She also died boxing day. By having no photos or no one to share happy fuzzy memories with translates to me being unloved, no one cared. So for me taking lots of photos of my kids is to show them ‘i’ cared. And they are important and loved. It's complicated.

Yep. My partners child was busy opening presents with his mum and dad and I took photos so they could have them afterwards. Appreciate that's not the standard for most families though!

Only thank you videos for a couple of relatives who'd sent presents for DS but weren't going to be with us.

I had my phone out as they came downstairs and saw everything, very pleased about that as my 2 year olds reaction to seeing what he'd asked Santa for poking out of his stocking was everything! 🥰🥰

I set up a mini action camera just out of the way which captured present opening, I took one picture of them with their stacking boxes (Aldi!) before we started but that was it. I watched back all the video later in the day, condensed it down to 15 minutes (from over an hour) and sent it to my parents.

It was the first time I've caught it all on video, previously just taking the odd short one and photos here and there. I'm glad I did it as it's been lovely to watch back, and it was less in your face than my phone so the kids ignored it & I was completely in the moment

Only one child this year, whose present was an extra special one.

@Sparklybutold

I didn't, I never thought to. I take thousands some on holidays and out and about places, but somehow it's never occurred to me to take any on Christmas morning. I've no idea why.

It's not something our family did when we were growing up, no special pyjamas or tons of decorations or even lots of presents, I don't really remember much festive spirit or joy. We were not permitted to ask for particular things though, it was "you'll take what you're given".

I do have a couple of photos from when we had Christmas lunch and of some presents, but not of anyone opening presents.

Same

I took a couple first thing of them opening their stockings but not any of the main presents.
Last year I took a candid photo of DDs with my dad, where they’re showing him the iPads he had bought them. He had terminal cancer at the time and died over the summer. The pure joy in my DDs faces and the love radiating from that moment in time, makes for a very precious photograph

When the dc were little, we did sometimes.
Now they are adults, it is pretty funny looking back at some of those little videos and photos.
We haven't got them from every year though - just bits spread over 10 years or so.
Doesn't really stop you being "in the moment" to take a photo or a clip of them as a video though.

none this year, we do a family picture before dinner of us all in xmas jumpers but that was it. Used to do it when they were toddlers but now we live in the moment. Dsil has spammed social media with hundreds of photos to be added to the memories spam come November, not for me but each to their own.

Yes, videos of opening presents to send to family who had sent presents. Generally I try to be in the moment, but I do find myself taking too many pictures and videos. I do look at them all the time though, but think I would be better to be 'in the moment'

💕

No, although I did take the "kid in front of the tree" photo when we first got up but that was all.

I think some people think they are so superior when they say things like "oh I don't take photos I am too busy living in the moment". Like people who take photos aren't.

I love photographs and looking back on memories, when I was a child and when my children were younger too.

I don't take lots of poses photos or shove cameras in their faces or share huge amounts online but I do take a lot of natural photos in the moment because they are lovely to look back on. I'm especially grateful for photos of people who are no longer with us.

Not loads, but some of DC opening presents from relatives who weren't with us. I tend to send them through to them later in the day

Agreed @parsniiips

We did a photo before opening. I got a new gopro earlier in the year so I did a time lapse of the whole present session and it worked really nicely!

We did and were in the moment. I lent my mobile on the table, set it to record and left it there until presents were open.

Also managed to capture my DD crawling - it was beautiful!

We did for those who sent presents who weren’t there so we could send to them after. I meant to take more throughout the day but I forgot. My sister and I spent Christmas Eve watching our old family videos from the 90s and there were a few Christmases on there. It was brilliant, especially seeing my grandparents who are now not with us, and seeing my parents so young!! You get a better idea of the interactions on a video. I really want to make an effort this year to take some longer ones like my family used to and not just short sharp bursts.

No. I think I took one photo all day. Just enjoying it.

I take photos of my children every second day!

On Christmas day I take photos of them going into the room to see what Santa brought. I take a few photos of them opening gifts and of our dog opening a gift too. I take a couple of photos of them playing with toys throughout the day. I don't post them on SM.

I don't have any photos of me growing up. There are complicated reasons around this, and of course digital photography didn't exist either, but I always felt nobody gave a toss about me then and nobody wanted to remember what I looked like as a child. It left a feeling of poor self worth. My kids might never look at the thousands of photos I have taken of them but if they do, they will be left in no doubt that their mum tried to capture memories as much as she could.

Yes I did a short video of them opening their first couple of presents to put on our family WhatsApp group.

Yes we did, but only for half the time as I wanted to watch too- not through a lens!

No, I live in the moment. Only festive video footage I took all year was a bit of ds' first ever nativity. And I've got a nice pic of both kids in front of the tree then one of dd on her own as a keepsake as it's her first Christmas. That's it! I normally also insist on a family selfie but am ill and look like shit.