{"id":1778,"date":"2016-05-09T01:32:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T01:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daniellebinns.com\/stagingsite\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2016-05-09T14:19:12","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T14:19:12","slug":"beautiful-chaos-mealtimes-family-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daniellebinns.com\/stagingsite\/2016\/05\/beautiful-chaos-mealtimes-family-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Beautiful chaos of mealtimes (and family photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend was a little nutty. \u00a0We had scheduled\u00a0a photoshoot for the recent launch of one of the\u00a0best kid’s menus in Toronto. \u00a0Scratch that! \u00a0I think it’s THE BEST\u00a0menu for kid’s in this\u00a0city (and outside of it).<\/p>\n

[Full discloser: \u00a0I’m a little biased because I am the Nutritionist who helped design that healthy, yet delicious, menu for\u00a0Piano Piano the Restaurant<\/a>. \u00a0However I’m not the first or the only mom to rave about this new joint or the food. \u00a0Just sayin’. \u00a0You’ll have to check it out yourself!]<\/p>\n

Since\u00a0we wanted to snap a few photos for the menu, we\u00a0decided to dedicate Saturday afternoon for\u00a0a family photoshoot.<\/p>\n

And honestly, it was mayhem.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"motherhood<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My kids were being kids – and they were out of control at times.<\/p>\n

If they weren’t\u00a0throwing food, they were sitting on it, or shoving it in any place\u00a0but their mouths. \u00a0If you look closely, Naomi has avocado smeared on her dress and broccoli in her hair.<\/p>\n

Sienna was clean, but insisted on staying\u00a0in the sink during the entire shoot, while singing “Jingle Bells” into the water facet. \u00a0I was sweating trying to keep them composed.<\/p>\n

All we\u00a0wanted was that perfect family shot. \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Everyone smiling (with clean faces and dresses) and actually looking at the camera. \u00a0Ha! \u00a0That was the hardest task.<\/p>\n

\"Baby<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I adore\u00a0my photographer Nikki McKean for many reasons. \u00a0But I particularly love her for reminding me that all\u00a0the madness happening that afternoon actually WAS the perfect shot. \u00a0Because THIS\u00a0is what life is life with kids.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unpredictable, messy, exhausting…and chaotic.<\/p>\n

What’s so perfect<\/strong> about parenthood is the imperfection.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Binns<\/p>\n

So I embraced the moment as much as I could and tried to let go<\/strong> of what I wanted others to see – what was ‘perfect’ in my mind.<\/p>\n

We forgot about the camera while the girls were snacking, we were laughing about something Sienna said, and Naomi smeared more\u00a0broccoli\u00a0in her hair. \u00a0It was just an average day in a Binns Kitchen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THIS\u00a0was the perfect family shot for us. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"motherhood<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Let it go<\/h3>\n

The irony here is that “letting it go” was such\u00a0an important message and mindset for myself when I was struggling through mealtimes with Sienna. \u00a0 I had an idea of what was supposed to be a “perfect meal”<\/strong>: \u00a0I expected my daughter to\u00a0be willing to take at least one bite of\u00a0everything on her plate (ha!). \u00a0I wanted her to\u00a0eat a balanced meal at every meal (haha!).<\/p>\n

Of course, my expectations for the perfect mealtime were hardly met. \u00a0Especially because I put so much pressure on Sienna (my former picky eater)\u00a0to meet those unrealistic expectations. \u00a0And that always made mealtimes worse.<\/p>\n

But once I\u00a0relinquished my desire to control her choices and LET GO of what I thought<\/em>\u00a0should happen, things\u00a0improved. \u00a0When I removed the pressure to achieve ‘perfect’,\u00a0I became\u00a0less stressed, \u00a0Sienna\u00a0became\u00a0calmer, I was happier, AND she ate better<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Binns<\/p>\n

So I now know my definition of\u00a0a\u00a0‘perfect\u00a0mealtime’ was\u00a0unrealistic.<\/p>\n

Similarly, my idea of\u00a0the ‘perfect photo’\u00a0was also a stretch this weekend. \u00a0Once I changed my mindset and went with the flow, I\u00a0had fun! \u00a0And we got some great shots of the real us. \u00a0Sometimes chaotic, usually\u00a0messy. \u00a0But always perfect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weekend was a little nutty. \u00a0We had scheduled\u00a0a photoshoot for the recent launch of one of the\u00a0best kid’s menus in Toronto. \u00a0Scratch that! \u00a0I think it’s THE BEST\u00a0menu for kid’s in this\u00a0city (and outside of it). [Full discloser: \u00a0I’m a little biased because I am the Nutritionist who helped design that healthy, yet delicious, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[97,29,128],"tags":[158,157],"yoast_head":"\nBeautiful chaos of mealtimes (and family photos)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.daniellebinns.com\/stagingsite\/2016\/05\/beautiful-chaos-mealtimes-family-photos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beautiful chaos of mealtimes (and family photos)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This weekend was a little nutty. \u00a0We had scheduled\u00a0a photoshoot for the recent launch of one of the\u00a0best kid’s menus in Toronto. \u00a0Scratch that! \u00a0I think it’s THE BEST\u00a0menu for kid’s in this\u00a0city (and outside of it). 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