School Pictures

Like I need to spend money to add to my massive picture collection of Evan - but there's something about school pictures, no matter how they turn out, that screams "memories" or, better yet, "blackmail" and entices parents to write that check.  Parents do it year after year.  My parents purchased all of our horrendous shots and Robert's parents did the same.

In many of my earlier school pictures I'm sporting what my mom referred to as the "Dorothy Hamill" hairdo.  How exactly a five year old was supposed to pull that look off still baffles me - which is why many people thought my parents had four sons rather than three. And of course there's at least six years worth of school pictures to prove it.  Like this one:

 

Not only is this hairdo lacking all feminine qualities (note the pseudo rat tail in the back), but I believe the Polo shirt was a hand me down from an older brother.  So much for ribbons and bows I guess.  And this picture is actually cute compared to the following five years.  My mom did make a point to throw a little make -up on my face.

Even with years of embarrassing pictures on hand I understand why parents buy school pictures.  The backdrops may be ugly, the lighting dreadful and the poses outrageously lame - but these are pictures unlike any others and they become a time line of sorts.  Not only is the change in age captured, but culture and fashion as well.  There always seems to be a great story behind each picture taken and that now rings true for Evan too.

How many parents forget that it's picture day?  Well, you can add the Stinnetts to that pool of losers.  We sent Evan to school in his closet's finest with his hair neatly combed and styled - quite the opposite actually.  Mom called him Farmer Fred when she saw the picture.  It may not be the greatest picture, but it's the first of many to come and I absolutely LOVE it - the brown, cloudy background and all.