on why i'm not a fan of school photos....

a month or so ago, i sent the girls off to school, all beautified and ready to smile for the camera for what's known as "Fall School Photos". they begged and begged for me to place an order.

let me tell you a little secret......

I DON'T LIKE SCHOOL PHOTOS! heeeee.

there's all sorts of reasons why, but anwho, back to what i was saying.

reluctantly, i looked at the order form and discovered that this time i had the option to order only a single sheet without having to buy an entire package first. to the tune of $10 a sheet. *eyes bugging out* what a rip-off.

but for posterity's sake, i gave in, wrote two checks, let them pick their outfit and their pose and called it good.

here's what i got in return.

this is Ashlyn, nearly 9 and in 3rd grade.

here's how i imagine this went down......
"okay, honey, on the count of three we'll take the picture, so get ready to smile. one........two"

yeah. looks like they didn't quite make it to three before they got trigger happy on the shutter release.

she looks like a deer in headlights on the way to a smile but didn't quite make it. her eyes look completely non-expressive and just doesn't look like the kid i know at all.

i mean ya'll have seen her photos here on the blog, right? she looks scared in this one.

now here is Spidergirl, almost 6, and in kindergarten.

so, yeah, she has a nice smile, not that crazy cheezy grin she's been flashing me lately, but did they really have to pose her looking like she can't wait to be done so she can run to the loo and empty her bladder!?

*sigh*

they are using digital cameras for pete's sake.

anywho. they take photos of kids in our school district twice a year. Fall and Spring.

in the fall, you don't get to see them before you order and in the Spring, they send you home a dozen (or more) sheets of photos and let you pick and choose on whether to buy any of them or not.

this might make me sound quite pathetic and like i'm a bit egotistical--and i don't mean for it to come across that way at all, but i have my own camera, thank you very much, and my photos mean more to me than anything any school has ever sent home for me to choose from.

i do realize that for some kids, this is the only photo they have taken of themselves each year. thinking about that makes me sad.

but really, these photos i'll treasure, for they remind me of their personalities, their quirks and whatnot.

like:

ashlyn begging for her hair to be up in the "wedding" do. heh. i spent a hour curling and putting it up with her whining every time i curled a new strand. (sensory issues + touching her hair = sending her over the edge) too bad you can't see the outfit that she freaked out over not being able to find the night before. she's obsessed with that skin tight pink laced cami with her super fly dark denim leg hugging jeans. and she won't keep her paws off my jewelry. she's also super sensitive and very uncomfortable in front of strangers. obvious from the photo, yes? she looks scared every single year. ahhhhhhhhhhh, memories. :)

and

spidergirl goes back and forth about wanting to dress girly and wanting to dress looking like a tomboy. this day, she wanted to look pretty with tights and dress shoes and have a pony in her hair. i let them pick their background and of course she'd pick the rainbow. i *knew* she would. she colors everything in rainbow color, she loves tie-dye, psychadelic looking stuff. she also smiles for the camera for anyone but ME! LOL. just the polar opposite of her sister. she's spunky and outgoing and doesn't have a shy bone in her body. all totally visible in this photo.

so even though i'm not in love with these photos, they'll still remind me of all of this. so, i guess i'll keep 'em.