School Days

It's an annual ritual. The first day of school. We spend days picking out the perfect outfit. Get up early, have a nice breakfast, curl hair. Pack an extra special snack. The kids are chomping at the bit, ready to get out the door and on their way... off to new adventures. And then comes the moment that mom lives for and the kids dread: picture time. It only takes a few moments, honest. But you would think I was asking for the world. They will be glad some day, when they have kids of their own and they want to look back on their lives. They will want to remember what they looked like on their first day of 1st and 2nd grade... won't they?



This is the look I usually get from Kate when I say, "Picture time." But then she warms up and loves the camera.

This is the typical reaction I get from my son, who just can't fathom why, after taking a picture like this, can't understand why I might possibly want to get "one more" shot, with a "normal smile."
"You already took a picture mom."
"But you were rolling your eyes at me - I can't use that one."
"Why not?"
"Just look at the camera and smile, ok? Then we can go to school."
So much for just capturing real life as it happens, and not asking kids to "look at the camera and smile," and all that stuff I like to preach. So easy when it's not my own kids.

I got the chance to subject my daughter's best school friend (and next door neighbor) to the same torture. Fortunately she hasn't been photographed within an inch of her life (although she is getting there, living next door to me), and still loves to pose for the camera.



OK, in case you hadn't noticed, this picture is actually from another day (yesterday, to be exact), but I just really liked it so I thought I would throw it in...