Picture Day

this post was written a couple of weeks ago but I never got to post it...

Today is Picture Day at the kids' school.

Yes, I am capitalizing it.  :)





I have fond memories of my own annual Picture Days because as a private school student, any out-of-uniform day was like a holiday for us. I recall that my mom would take us shopping to purchase a new outfit, or shoes for the occasion and that when the pictures came back, she would distribute our tiny images to relatives from far and wide. I vividly remember the anxiety about keeping our hair neat on those days. For some reason, back then it was common for the school photographer to provide each child with their own comb and instruct them to use it. Woe to the class who had afternoon pictures! There would be no kickball on the playground that day!

For my 2 school-aged sons, Picture Day is pretty much just a chance to get out of uniform. Neither one of them took me up on the offer to take them shopping for new clothes. And both resisted the haircuts I forced upon them. I still can't figure that one out! ;)

My daughter, however, being a pretty girly girl, is quite excited. She's sporting a new outfit today, as well as matching hairbows. Before she fell asleep last night, she asked me to make sure to hang her shirt on the closet door and nowhere else, so she would know where it was. She made sure everything was exactly where it should be before she drifted off to sleep. As predicted, she awoke before me and was dressed by 7:00, to make sure we had plenty of time to do her hair before school. As I clipped the bows onto her pigtails (the final touches) she nearly burst with the joy of it all. I have to say, THAT reaction is one of my favorite parts of parenting; a perk that makes all the not-so-fun parts worth every minute.



Now, you may have noticed I like to take pictures. I take a lot of pictures. I have been snapping pictures since my little fingers were big enough to press the button on my 1-10 camera, I think. So all those years of photographing have created quite a heap of photos...I have an entire chest filled with them, some organized, but most not (like the rest of my life). As the dust began to settle from this morning's activities, I wondered if this year's pictures will make it to their scrapbooks before they end up in the bottomless pile of prints. I always have the best of intentions, but, well, sometimes I get busy and let's face it, keeping up with 4 scrapbooks takes a lot out of a person's day...especially at the rate I snap photos.

It occurred to me that this is one of the things I love about blogging. In one sense, every day can be Picture Day, at least for me. Of course, there is no running around and buying new clothes, and there is no stress about keeping the hair perfect, but as a mom, I still get that same thrill of excitement when I capture a great shot of them. Sharing them here, with all of you means the memories aren't just sitting in the big black trunk in the dining room, which is a good thing because although I know my little blog doesn't truly compare to the annual "holiday-ness" of it all, for me, it's a little piece, and that's enough.

 I think it's time to increase my blog margins again. Sorry for the crop.