... when you have a child who tends to be grumpy about taking the family Christmas picture:

Last year we had a fairly difficult time trying to get a good picture. Even when we got one with everyone smiling, my son was only smiling because he was goofing off and cracking his knuckles.

This year, I had a flash of insight at just the right moment. My son loves using my digital camera and taking pictures - so I put HIM in charge of setting up and taking the picture. Yes, we had a few mess-ups at first (like one where the kids were pointing at the camera trying to get the dog facing that direction). And we had the inevitable one with the self-timer not set (so his backside took up the whole picture). But in the end, we have a picture of a happy family!