EACH WEEK, A different Irish parent chats us through a family photo from Instagram and explains what was really going on outside the frame – from tantrums to toilet disasters.

Fancy taking part? Email amy@thejournal.ie with a few lines about yourself and your kids for a chance to feature.

Lorraine Higgins Lorraine Higgins

This week, Lorraine Higgins (@lorrainesworldblog) chatted us through a festive photo of her four children – Noah and Emilia, and one-year-old twins Isla and Poppy.

Tell us a bit about this photo. What inspired you to take it?

This picture was taken last Christmas. It was the twins’ first Christmas and we were heading to see Santa in Fota Island. Noah and Emilia insisted that we take a picture by the sparkly tree. I take a lot of pictures of the kids and every first occasion is marked with a photo of some kind. I think this particular photo is really special as it’s the first proper photo of all four kids and I can see myself trying to recreate it every year until they refuse!

What’s one thing that’s going on in this photo that you wouldn’t know from looking at it?

It might look like a really happy, smiley, easy going picture but in reality it was a stressful morning of screaming babies, poo explosions and unhappy big kids who were still getting used to sharing our time with not one, but two babies!

We had about an hour’s sleep and were facing the twins’ first long drive to see Santa, so behind the scenes everything was very chaotic but it all worked out in the end and we had a car of exhausted, sleepy kids on the way home.

Did it take many attempts to get the right shot?

This was definitely a one-shot picture! We lived in fear of a baby being dropped by a bored pre-schooler. I was actually taking the picture with one hand ready to grab a child and my husband is just out shot ready to run to them. The majority of the pictures I take of the kids are done in one shot as the big kids barely stop running around and the small girls just want to take off after them.

Do you have a family photo from Instagram with a great behind-the-scenes story? The day at the beach when the little one ingested a mouthful of sand – or the smiley photo taken just minutes after a tantrum? If so, we want to hear from you! Email amy@thejournal.ie with a few lines about yourself and your kids for a chance to feature in What You Don’t See Here.

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