And it starts.
School pictures.
Preschool pictures to be exact.
I totally scoffed when I got the flyer telling me what day it would be on.
They even showed us what the background would be in advance.
You know, so we could dress them to coordinate. Maybe in a hawaiian shirt or a loin cloth or something.
As if I would buy a dorky school picture.
Please.
From PRESCHOOL of all things.
Must we start these things so early?
Can’t we just BE four years old and not pushing junk already???!!!
I don’t need more excuses to spend money.
HELLO! I’m trying to teach my kids about avoiding materialism and not having to buy every single little thing that comes their way.
Until I got the proofs.
And suddenly all of my practical-I’m-not-falling-for-this-chutzpah vanished.
“EEK!!! LOOK AT HOW CUTE HE LOOKS!!! I MUST ORDER THE LARGEST PACKAGE THEY OFFER! AND A PHOTO KEYCHAIN! I MUST. HAVE. A PHOTO KEYCHAIN.”
And then I saw the prices and about had a heart attack.
For real people?! You want HOW MUCH for a cheestastic picture of my kid?!
And might I ask why the packages are ridiculous combinations of bizarre sizes like 4×5 that YOU CAN’T EVEN GET A FRAME FOR, and please, can someone tell me why I need TWENTY SEVEN wallets???!!!
Do people still carry pictures in their wallets???
I’m pretty sure that’s what iPhones are for.
But truly, the question of the millenia is this:
Does a kitten die everytime a non-ridiculous background is used in school pictures????
Is there a reason a neutral gray or brown is strictly off limits in school pictures?
Does there exist a secret society or professional association that dictates that bizarre nature scenes and electric blue backgrounds are the piece de resistance in school picture etiquette?
Because I’m here to tell you that this rainforest meets flower meadow meets waterfall rock formation meets manmade concrete steps doesn’t occur anywhere in nature…much less anywhere near where we live.
Or anywhere my FOUR YEAR OLD WOULD RANDOMLY TAKE A SEAT AND SMILE.
I was just happy he wasn’t wearing a macaroni necklace or had a snot trail running across his cheek.
In fact, I was like “dang, if it weren’t for the goofy background, this is pretty perfect.”
Until Nelle pointed out he had marker all over his shirt.
Of course. It wouldn’t be a school picture without something wonky.
But seriously…scroll back up.
How could I NOT buy them?!
(I’m a sucker. I take back anything and everything I have ever said that I would “NEVER” do. Clearly.)
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The kill a kitten comment cracked me up!!! I actually had to go back and look at it, because the only thing I was looking at the first time was your *adorable* son. I’m thinking with a face like that, you might need more than 27 wallets! : )
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I was cracking up about the kitten comment, too. :) Do they still offer stickers of your school photo?? They totally did that when I was in school.. Like, really?? Who wants a STICKER of their child? It’s just plain weird.. Almost as weird as the backgrounds they use. Almost. ;)
Katy @ Live Laugh Love Craft´s last blog post ..6 days until Christmas!
Thus is hilarious! I literally laughed out loud. All my girls are grown…and even though I don’t have a single one of their school pictures framed and displayed anywhere in our house, I bought every picture, every year and we have so much fun pulling out the album with all them and laughing hysterically!!
LOL, I know this post so well. We had our pictures done back in November and I went through all the exact same thoughts. I actually forgot it was picture day. When we arrived at school and I saw the camera guys, I was like, “Crap!” Then I got the proofs back and they were sooo adorable. We had 2 backgrounds and they did several poses with him. One background was the neutral grey and the other looked like Fall threw up on the screen. Pumpkins and leaves everywhere. And yes, the prices were ridiculous. I didn’t buy any. I figured I could take him to JC Penney or Sears and get a better price and better packages. Of course I didn’t. Then I got a paper saying you could go online and order gifts. Yeah, that $4.99 magnet is calling my name.
I love the marker on his shirt! It’s total preschool reality. He’s adorable. I’d need to order the photo keychain too. :-)
LOL, I hear you. My oldest is in 2nd grade this year and I have yet to ever purchase a set of school pictures.
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i did not even notice the marker. i was too focused on the adorable-ness
Love your blog! Found it when I was preggo with MY fraternal twin girls. And I have another daughter 3 1/2 years older. This post cracked me up and made me grateful for our awesome school photographers: http://candidkidsportraits.com/
Oh, this made me laugh. And I needed a good laugh today. It also brought back a good memory. My daughter (9) has Rett Syndrome. When she was younger she went to a special needs preschool and they always tried to sell ridiculously high priced photos. My girl is beautiful but it is extremely hard to get a good picture of her. One day they sent home proofs of their preschool “cap and gown” graduation pictures. Really?! Is that necessary at 4 or 5 years old? Then I opened them and saw the greatest picture of my daughter – actually smiling and looking at the camera – in an adorable red cap and gown. I couldn’t pass them up and ordered the smallest package available. Fast forward a few weeks and the packages arrived. I told them there must be some mistake because my picture envelope was stuffed full. Inside was a personal note from the photographer. He said he knew how difficult it was to get a good picture of my girl. He was so excited about the shot he had gotten that he wanted us to have them all. I cried, of course. It still remains one of my favorite photos and favorite memories.
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LOL! this happened to me this year with Santa. “I will never buy a pic of my kids with Santa” – because they see him every year when he visits my parents’ house on Christmas Eve (bro or bro in law). Until they begged to sit on his lap, and my son whispered that he thought he was the real Santa, and then they cuddled into his big arms and started talked about transformers and zoobles…. this was followed by my eyes glazing over, my mouth asking them to go ahead and take a pic, and my hand reaching in my purse to pay over $15 for ONE 4×6 photo.
Never say never indeed.
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