What in the world has happened to school pictures since I was in school? Remember those golden days? You'd get home a flyer, and your mom would pick a package and dress you up in your best, best, best clothes (like a Little House on the Prairie Dress!) and send you off to school, where you would run around at recess, trip on the concrete and scrape your face and mess up your hair - a perfect compliment to your smile full of missing teeth, and new ones of different sizes! The result would be a picture to be treasured through the years, more for how awful it was than for how wonderful!
But now... First of all, NOW they take pictures TWO times each year. In the fall they send home a flyer where you can pick from many packages and add-ons, AND you can pick from several charming poses. Then, in the spring, you just get a heads up that picture day is coming, but you don't need to worry about an order form. Oh, no, smart money-makers that they are... they take a picture of your child and a couple weeks later send home a HUGE envelope full of stunning pictures of your precious child. You pick which ones you want to keep and send them a check, along with the pictures you don't want to keep!
WHAT? You send back pictures of your child? Yep. That's right. You have to look at that wonderful picture of your child, and say "No sweetie, I'm sorry, you're just not worth $25 per sheet, and I don't need 8 laminated key chains, 15 bookmarks, and 2 baseball cards. I'm going to send you back. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be treasured... In a DUMPSTER somewhere!"
I'm telling you, I have the hardest time letting go of the pictures, but I do it! I send them back, because, by golly I did NOT ask to have them taken. I don't need any more pictures. But it's SO HARD to put them back in the envelope and send them to school! It's like throwing your kid in the trash. UGH. I hate school pictures!
PS - the picture at the top is the funniest one I've ever seen! We took the kids to a studio last fall and had some great pictures taken for a great price. Z is usually very photogenic, and we have tons of pictures of his great smile. But when the session started he was so serious, and trying not to smile, and the result was this picture that never fails to bring a smile to my face!
1 comment:
I agree whole-heartedly with your rant about school pictures!! In fact I think there are many more creative ways of spending money at school than we ever could have dreamed of. Have you seen what they offer the kids to eat in public high schools. And people wonder why kids are having obesity issues and parents cannot afford to send their kids to school!! Well I must make some lunch for Chloe--she says her tummy is rumbling and she wants a grilled cheese.
Chow!!
Love,
Lavonne
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