picture day fiasco

These were the faces I got when I asked him to smile ^
Down below you can see last years pictures on the bottom.

Today was picture day at Thomas's school. I think St. Patty's day should be off limits for a picture day, because a mom has to choose whether to send their kid in green, so he doesn't get pinched, or to dress him up in his nicest clothes (that will match the living room decor when the photo is hung on the wall) and risk him being tortured thru the day.

They only gave us a weeks warning about this, so I had been on the lookout for something cute the boys could wear - last year they were in matching outfits - so that is what I had in mind.

But I didn't find anything to my liking. Then Thomas picked out a cute orange shirt from Walmart because it says Junior on it - and his name is Thomas Junior. So that is what he wore, and I just dug something out of Graysons closet for him. Hopefully they will look cute on the wall.

So Thomas is not very good with things that are off of his usual routine. And he also doesn't like doing things that require him to hold still. (He has always hated getting his picture taken). Today was no exception.

I arrived at the school with Grayson just in time to see Thomas's class heading to get their pictures taken. But Thomas wasn't with them. So I walked all the way down to his room, to find him with his aid (that does great one on one work with him). He was mad because it was "work time" and he was saying things about how he didn't want to do pictures, etc. I got him to hold my hand and "walk" with me (more like dragging his feet and flopping all over). The whole rest of his class was sitting, his teacher was saying to the photographers that this was a difficult class (I guess the girl she had sitting with her is the other big challenge, she works with). But the only one acting up was Thomas. And boy was he acting up. His aid was trying to help him with the "transition" (as they call it), but he would not accept this change. And he was flopping all over. She was holding him trying to keep him from breaking his head open on the bleachers, and talking to him so calmly. I wanted to ring his little neck for his horrible behavior. But instead I just sat in the background holding back my tears.

Thanks to digital photos I was able to see that they did in fact capture a class photo with all the kids - including Thomas - were looking at the camera. Not necessarily with a smile, but not in full body flopping tantrums at least.

Then it was time for individual shots. Thomas decided to go last. He sat so good right where he was as all of the other kids took their turns and then headed back to class. But his expression was of someone lost. Then it was his turn. All he had to do was hand the photographer his ticket with his name on it. He refused, holding it behind his back, saying he wanted to keep it. His teacher coaxed, the photographer coaxed, I coaxed. Nothing. So finally they gave up, and made him a new one, let him just keep the one in his hand, and we moved on to getting him to look at the camera, hold still and smile. Well, just like last year, the best shot they got was a pretty stoic look. it would have to do, because he was DONE.

Then it was Grayson's turn. We didn't get a smile out of him last year, so we tried practicing with him at home all morning. But this year, we were lucky we didn't get a pouty lip or tears. He did NOT want to sit there. But the photographer got one good shot. It's not a smile, but it will have to do.