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Keeping Up With Kelsey: School Pictures

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1st Year of PreSchool
1st Year of PreSchool

Negaunee, MichiganSeptember 19, 2018 – It’s Picture Day. Or what I like to call it, “Pictorial Horror” Day. That dreaded day where you get your child dressed in their finest, ship them off to school, and cross your fingers hoping for the best, because darn it, you’re paying good money for this!

My son argued that he wanted to wear his “fancy clothes” for picture day. His “fancy clothes” are the 3-piece suit he wore at my husband’s and my wedding in August. Last year. He put it on, and the cuffs were close to his elbows, and the pant hemline reached the middle of his shins. A mellow argument and a few tears later, he ended up wearing an adorable button down shirt with nice jeans. He wasn’t happy. But, he’ll be dressed cute in his pictures!

Now, I have a problem with school pictures, and here’s why:

1. They’re ridiculously over-priced. No, I will not buy a pillow with my kid’s chocolate-stained face on it for $75.

2nd Year of PreSchool
2nd Year of PreSchool

2. Half the time they turn out like crap because your kid wasn’t cooperating for the photographer, and the photographer was moving them along too quickly.

3. You’re not able to be there to make sure your kid cooperates and the photographer snaps a good one.

Bottom line: Now that I’ve learned my lesson after having my kid bring home school picture packets for four years, I’d much rather spend a little bit more to get professional family photos taken each year where I have a little more control over what we do in the pictures and making sure my kid cooperates.

This isn’t to say the school pictures aren’t professional – I know the schools pay a pretty penny for the photographers to come and do what they do. But think about it. The photographer really doesn’t care how your kid’s photo turns out. Here’s why:

Jr. Kindergarten
Jr. Kindergarten

Reason #1 – They have to photograph hundreds of kids in one day. One. Day. Move along, Junior, make way for Sally!

Reason #2 – There’s a picture re-take day, meaning they can have a do-over for the kids whose parents weren’t satisfied the first time, and that means there will be generally a lot less kids to photograph in one day, so you can get little bobby over there to stop picking his nose this time while you snap his photo.

Reason #3 – They’re going to get paid for their time no matter what.

Kindergarten
Kindergarten

So yea, I’ll have my son get his picture taken today. And maybe, if he smiles in it and doesn’t look like a mess, I might buy the disc so the grandparents can go nuts with printing if they want the picture. We’ve been lucky that my son’s previous pictures have turned out pretty good. But this isn’t always the case, and I know many parents who don’t buy their kids’ pictures because they don’t turn out at all.

So, I’m going to just get family photos taken soon so I can have a picture of my whole family together, cooperating and getting the photos I actually like. Whatever your feelings on the topic, I wish you luck on Picture Day. You do you, mama.

Keep up with me on The Sunny Morning Show live weekdays from 6-10AM with Walt Lindala!

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