Talk about pressure….today is THE day. People have been asking about it; just the other day Will’s grandma asked when it was taking place. Notices were posted at school, a month ago, announcing the details. Today is school picture day.
Picture day is special. Not only does he need to arrive at school on time, dressed, teeth brushed and shoes ties but today, he has to be clean and wearing photo ‘appropriate’ clothing.
That is too much pressure for me.
Last year I selected a solid dark red collared shirt and his photo turned out great. Sadly, not many dress shirt options this year. Pulled a nice red plaid from his shirt drawer but thought too lumberjack-ish. Also considered a dark blue, long sleeved Polo-like shirt but finally decided on a grey sweater vest on top of a white long sleeve shirt. Don’t think he has ever worn this vest or any ‘vest’ before.
Now the hair. Will has near constant bed head so considered actually combing his hair. (yes, a rare thing). Figured it would be easier and probably do a better job, just put a winter hat on his head for the walk to school.
🙂
Lastly, the taking of the photo. All morning Will has been “Mr. Crabby.” Not sure what set him off, maybe didn’t sleep well. After walking to school, I took him into the Church room where other kids who normally don’t go to school on Friday were lined up. When it was our turn, Will hid behind me and wouldn’t speak or look at the photographer. I started to get nervous, would he refuse to smile? If so, how would I get him to smile? No smile= bad school photo= I failed today’s most important task.
Luckily, the photographer was a true pro. Within 10 seconds, she accessed the situation, pulled out some generic stuffed animal and had Will laughing with a BIG SMILE. Thank god. Now we just wait.
We shall see how the pictures turn out…..
26.2 with Toddler 
As a professional school photographer, I really enjoyed your post. So many parents stress out on photo day but it usually turns out to be a good experience. Sure, you might have a crabby kid once in a while but if your child’s friends are having fun with the photographer, most likely, he or she will have fun as well.
The worst part is when parents stress the kid out and tell him to smile. Why don’t you just tell him to grit his teeth and make the worse possible expression while you are at it!? I don’t get me started on the helicopter parents that hover around you when you are working with the child to smile. They look at you, they look at me, they look back to the parent, and when I’m trying to get them to smile….they look at the parent. Oops. And then the parents complain that the child isn’t looking at the camera! Uh duh! I’ve been doing this for 20 years and support my family with my photography business….I think I might know a little something about school photography!
Great post!! Keep on writing!
Glad you enjoyed the post. And I wouldn’t want your job, having to deal with psycho parents. I bet you could tell stories of helicopter parents all day.
School picture day is ALWAYS preceded by Luke’s traditional shave-your-own-head night in our house. Can’t wait to see Will’s picture!
Great idea. Maybe we’ll try the head shave next year.
And when you really botch a photo (tears, big milk spot on shirt, diy haircut, etc), think of it as an opportunity! Will’s going to have an awesome photo to post of Facebook (or equivalent) in a decade or so 😉
Good point but I really hope FB is long dead, in ten years
I wonder if this is a boy thing…I have two daughters, and when they were at school from the very first school picture day, used to stress about looking fantastic themselves!
Maybe when the boy gets a bit older, he too may be more concerned about his appearance.
Very cute story. Sounds like it was a good fashion choice and I am sure the photos will turn out great! 😀
I hope they turn out too. Thanks for reading and I too LOVED “Born to Run.” Usually, I’m a slow reader but think I finished that one in less than a week.
😀 Yeah, it has made me happy to run again, it’s awesome!
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