It's that most special time of year... okay, second most special time of year - back to school time! Q started 2nd grade last week. So far we've only had a couple of homework meltdowns (one of them was my meltdown), one tantrum over which shirt he was allowed to wear and one occurrence of racing to get there for pick up on time. So far, so good.
PICTURE DAY IS COMING... so says the form I received yesterday. There are several "Plans" to choose from. Ranging in price, each "Plan" offers several different sizes of the ugliest pictures a child will get taken throughout their childhood. I think my children are about as cute as they come, but Q's school pictures in previous years have made him look... weird. When I look at any child's school picture, if it looks even kind of good (like their hair is actually combed into place and both eyes are fully open and focused) I think, "What a great school picture! They sure got lucky this year!"
The worst part is the ridiculous backdrop. Q's kindergarten picture had shooting lasers as a backdrop. Is a child's appearance typically enhanced by the look of shooting lasers? I realize I'm treading on sacred ground here. School pictures are a tradition that just about everybody in the United States holds near and dear to their hearts. This is my dilemma. I don't like school pictures.
I know I sound bitter. That's probably because I am bitter. It kills me to have to pay any amount of money for some super cheesy photo that makes my child look less cute than he actually is. I am perfectly capable of taking bad photos of my child, so why can't we just feel satisfied with our free, bad pictures?
So I think, maybe I'll just get the class photo instead. Then, I see into the future. Q's friend wants to swap wallet size pictures and he has to hang his head in shame and admit to not having any wallet size photos to swap. Then I look like a bad Mom. Worse though, Q is scarred for life. Perhaps this is an exaggeration, but Q is my oldest and I haven't had enough experience to prove that he won't become a criminal or big jerk because of my mistakes.
I will buy the school pictures. I will grit my teeth and do whatever ridiculous task I believe necessary to keep Q from becoming a social outcast. Hopefully, he will be kind to me in my old age for this sacrifice.
2 comments:
AMEN!!!!! I can hardly see the key board through the tears of laughter. If we only had the courage/confidence to stand up to those Neo-Nazis who started this whole school picture mess:)
Miss you.
I totally agree. I still wish my parents would get rid of my old ugly-phase school pics. Get this, though. Pippi's school, gets pictures from a child i.d. photographer. So each picture also says the stats for each child: height, weight, hair and eye color, etc. I'd never thought that the school pictures could be for safety reasons. I don't have any use for more than one picture like that though.
Post a Comment