Model, actor and entrepreneur Molly Sims is letting us peek behind the curtain to see the secret that every parent knows about family photo sessions: They're an absolute nightmare.
So often, we receive holiday cards showing families in coordinating outfits, looking serene and well-behaved. And Sims did end up with an absolutely adorable Christmas card photo of her three children. In a TikTok video, Sims shows us the good, the bad and the furry chaos that it took to produce an absolutely adorable Christmas card photo of her kids and dogs.
Sims shares her three kids (Brooks, 11, Scarlett, 8, and Grey, almost 7) with husband Scott Stuber, chairman of Netflix Film. And from the looks of things, the family of five — plus dogs Ruby and Magic — never has a dull moment. (And let's not forget Sims's "emotional support animal," a bearded dragon named Taco, not pictured.)
In the video, which is labeled "The Christmas Photo vs. how we got it," Sims treats us to a series of clips underscored with jaunty carnival music. You can see:
- Scarlett hitting Brooks with a stuffed animal as Sims threatens, "If you hit one another one more time..."
- A cut to Brooks getting hit one more time.
- Kids posing by the tree while Grey cries/whines/clearly exhibits dissatisfaction with the whole situation.
- Brooks swinging from a rope ladder, followed by Grey launching himself into an aggressive barrel roll on the grass. In a crisp white shirt, obviously.
- "That's fine," Sims says, clearly indicating that things are absolutely not fine.
- Grey and Scarlett hanging onto the rope ladder, seemingly intent on inviting more grass stains to torture their mom.
- Sims lifting her arms in a "What did I do to deserve this?" pose, then hanging her head in defeat.
- Brooks gets in on the popular Rope Ladder/Grass Stain Challenge.
- Sims attempts to get her kids to stand next to one another and hold hands. Scarlett and Grey see this as a new way they can torture each other while Brooks, in true oldest child fashion, tries to get them to stop and just take the darn picture already.
- With joking, yelling and/or fighting in the background, someone suggests that Sims add the dogs to a photo. Sims says, "The dogs?" in a "Do I have to?" voice, and again hangs her head.
- While the kids actually appear to be following directions (hallelujah!) the dogs, especially Ruby, don't seem to be interested in getting photographed.
- Sims slowly descends into the silent eyeroll state of parenting, in which you know if you say anything out loud you will start screaming, so you don't say anything at all.
- By holding a dog treat over the photographer's camera (and perhaps introducing some offstage negotiation with the kids), Sims somehow gets all three of her children and two of her dogs to stand still and face the camera. Emotion overcomes Sims and she shakes the dog treat in her fist while glaring in frustration.
- "Cameron, do you have kids?" Sims asks someone off-camera, seemingly looking for someone to commiserate with.
In the end, Sims got a really sweet photo for her Christmas card.
But is the begging, the pleading, the threats, the bribes and the skyrocketing blood pressure worth it?
Hard to say.
But, like most of us, chances are that Sims will forget all about it until she's struggling to snap the family holiday photo in 2024.
