when is too old to be in your moms xmas photo

not your average event. since i was a kid, my mother has made me change the way i look for these photos, and the card/photos are usually centered around material wealth - none the less the card represents me in a way i am not.

the thing is, my brother is now married and i am 33. feels like she should take a picture with my step father then include us in the letter. i don't know. my mom is hystericaly upset that i told her that i think i should stop being in it and give her a photo representing my own life to include with it. does anyone have an opinion? should xmas cards with your childhood family continue into adulthood, children, balding and greying? or should they end representitively when the kids leave the nest for college etc... i feel like we have been placating my mother and she is not moving past an empty nest syndrome. i want her to be happy but it feels like we are perpetuating something unnaturally

thanks

I think throwing on a nice set of duds and standing still for 10 seconds while someone snaps a picture is a small price to pay to bring a smile to the face of the woman who gave birth to you.

We do multigeneration family photos all the time. I think they are nice. But, apart from telling you the general tone of the phote (formal, casual), she shouldn't be dressing you, lol.

She sounds a bit emotional, but moms are like that. Suck it up, like Grib says. Geeze, is your ego that fragile?

I am genuinely surprised by the previous two answers... not that I disagree necessarily, but I have to admit that I don't really receive holiday photos like the one he describes. Annual family photos, yes, but not holiday greeting cards. I guess there is no harm if it makes her happy, and her friends that have known you since you were little probably enjoy seeing them. however, you are certainly not obligated to send the photo to YOUR friends....