Travel Tips

My daughter is going through a phase in which she doesn't like to be photographed. It has been a long phase.

Twelve years old and here she is doing her Jackie Onassis thing. Making it very difficult for me to get her picture.

"Why do you always try to take my picture?" she asks me.

"Because you are like a rare bird," I say. "So beautiful, yet so elusive. I need to be ready to take a picture of you whenever I have a chance."

She rolls her eyes and groans, "Oh, Mom!"

Success! I managed to snap this picture just as my daughter was shoving the camera away.

Those annoying paparazzi!

But...I'm older, wiser and smarter, and that's why I'm the mom and she's the little girl. I have ways of getting what I want. All I have to do is give my daughter a prop like a cute little cousin, and finally, she will pose angelically for the camera. Click!

Multi-tasking.

Studying biology while listening to Linkin Park. Binding philosophids to rap.

Teenage boys do not think it is cool to smile for photos. I have many photos of my son, but few with smiles.

When he was 10 he was easy. I would just tell a joke, and he would laugh.

Now, 5 years later, the comedienne is not funny anymore. The jokes are corny. I need new material.

My son is finally laughing here, so in a rare moment of wit and humor, I must have told a good joke.

The problem is, I don't remember what it was.

When he isn't connected to his iPod, my son golfs. He has been golfing since he was 7 years old, and he now has a golf swing to die for. I love playing golf with him, not because my game is any good -- it's laughable -- but watching my son play is like admiring a work of art. Art that we have paid a lot of money for with 8 years of lessons.

I hope the investment pays off someday, but first, let's get him through ninth grade.

My husband is the perfect subject because he lets me take his photo and he will laugh at my jokes.

In this picture, I am trying to go for a GQ kind of shot.

I think possibly I might have finally succeeded.