Diary of A Modern Gran | Smile For The Camera

By Jane Corry

“Mum,” says my daughter when she rings on Sunday morning. “Could I ask you a favour?”

Oh oh. This is exactly the kind of question that you can never answer correctly.

If I say yes, I’m not quite sure what it might lead to.

If I say no outright, that’s downright rude and not like me at all.

And if I say “What kind of favour?”, that sounds suspicious.

Oh well. Here goes. “What kind of favour?” I ask hesitantly.

“Could I come round and set up a shoot in your back room? The light would be perfect.”

“Yes,” I say, really excited. My daughter, who has always been creative, has started a photography business. She specialises in natural family shots and wants to do some more pictures for her website.

“There’s just one problem,” she adds.

“Oh oh.”

“It might mean moving some of your furniture around.”

Now that’s not a problem for me. But my husband does get very fussy – he would say “careful” – because of his precious record collection which is also in the back room.

Luckily he’s out.

“Come round as soon as you can,” I say.

They take me at my word.

I say “they” because little Rose and George have come along as models along with my son-in-law who is helping out with props. There’s also a very professional silver umbrella which the children and I have our eyes on.

“OK everyone,” says my daughter brightly. “Into your costumes please.”

It turns out that we only have an hour as Rose is due at a party. My daughter is like me. She likes to cram everything into every second of the day.

“Is it alright if we move the sofa over there?” she asks.

Why not? In fact I rather like the new position.

Within seconds, she’’s rolled out special floor covering, erected the tripod and put up a backdrop. It all looks extremely professional.

I have to say that Rose and George are natural models. They do exactly as they’re told and smile for the camera. It takes me back to my early days as a journalist when I was a features editor for a parents magazine while also doing its beauty and fashion.

Sometimes the child models refused to wear certain clothes. Luckily, their mothers were usually there to help out. In those days I didn’t have children of my own so I didn’t appreciate that even little ones can be very stubborn about what they will or won’t wear!

Then my daughter takes a photograph of my son-in-law for his LinkedIn profile. Rose and George change back again into their ordinary clothes like real pros.

“Mum,” says my daughter. “Would you like me to take a picture of you with your new book?”

The proofs have just arrived so it would be perfect timing for my social media and website. But I’m only wearing my Sunday jeans! And I haven’t really done my make-up!

Jane Corry Pic: Lucy Davies Photography

“It will be nice to have a casual look,” she says. “Just take a seat on that stool.”

Now I don’t know about you but I really hate having my photograph taken. In my opinion, my nose is too big; I can’t stop being round-shouldered (I was tall at school so always tried to look smaller); and I also freeze every time someone points a lense at me. Yet I have friends that look more glamorous in photographs than they do in real life. They seem to have this natural ability to chill out in front of the camera.

“Imagine you’re making up a story,” says my daughter, trying to make me relax. “Now pretend you’re reading from your book. Great!”

Rose and George dance beside the camera. “Come on, Gan Gan!”

It seems to work. That evening, my daughter emails me the pictures. It’s not easy to open them because these photographers seem to send everything in zipped up files which take people like me ages to work out how to get in.

But I’m really pleased with the results.

Then I start thinking about all the photographs I’ve taken of my children over the years from birth onwards.

Unlike photos today, which seem to be stored on phones or computers or whatever, we all used to put them into albums. In fact I still do. Do you? I use a clever app on my phone which allows me to email a number of photos to a service which then sends them back to me in print form for less than a tenner. Then I’ll put them into albums with little captions underneath.

Some of my favourite possessions are photograph albums which my mother kept. It’s wonderful to see her handwriting and be transported back into long gone days.

Since the virus began, I’ve been a bit lax in doing this. But my daughter’s photographic session has made me decide to get going again.

I’ve also noticed that Rose and George are fascinated by photographs of themselves when they’re little. So it’s important to keep it going.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from you about your own photographic experiences. Do you freeze if someone tries to take a picture of you? Have you got any good tips on how to relax? How do you store your photos? Do you keep family albums?

Do email me at moderngran@dctmedia.co.uk.

Ask Agony Gran

“My grandson came to visit me last weekend and I was horrified to find he had a tattoo on his arm. He’s just turned 18.

“His parents don’t seem too bothered by it but I’m quite upset. Am I being old-fashioned?”

Brenda from Oxfordshire

Jane says:

Dear Brenda,

I know how you feel. I brought up my youngest son on my own from when he was 13. One day, he came back from school with a blue smiley face on his shoulder. I presumed he had done it with a pen but it was still there three days later. When I discovered that one of his friends had given him a tattoo, I was really upset. To be honest, I felt I’d failed as a mum.

Now, with the hindsight of several years – and I have to say a few more tattoos on his part – I see it as a rite of passage. I don’t like it. And my son may well regret it when he’s older. But unless he has it professionally removed, he’s stuck with it. And so am I.

So if I were you, I wouldn’t let a tattoo come between you and your relationship with your grandson. That doesn’t mean to say you can’t express your feelings. But then I would park it and move on. Mind you, I do have a granny friend who bought herself some stick-on tattoos. She fooled her teenage grandchildren into thinking they were real. They thought she was very cool until she came clean. Just an idea…! Good luck.

Family News

Children under 13 should go to bed between 8 and 9pm according to a recent report. The recommended time for teenagers is between 9 and 10pm.

Meanwhile, another survey suggests that adults who go to sleep between 10 and 11pm are less likely to develop heart disease compared with earlier or later bedtimes. Interesting…

The Funny Things They Say

My grandson is just three. He was fascinated when snow began to fall last week. But then he got upset when it began to melt.

“Nanny,” he asked. “Can’t we put it in the freezer to keep for ever?”

Angela from Newcastle

Thanks, Angela. We thought that was really sweet.

Children’s Book of the Week

Each week I’ll suggest a wonderful book to gift or read to your grandchildren (or why not email me with your suggestions?)

This time I’ve chosen Step Inside Science: Your Body by Lara Bryan, illustrated by Teresa Bellón (Usborne Books, £9.99).

This is a great book for children, describing how our bodies work. What happens to food after we eat it? How do we breathe? And how can our growing muscles lift heavy objects? I learnt a thing or two myself!