WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Today was school photo day for my great niece Maddie, and when I was in Pittsburg yesterday we so-called adults of the family rehearsed her for what to do and not do in order to be picture perfect. She has lost a lot of teeth over the summer and looks a bit like a human jack-o-lantern, which makes her self-conscious. She now has the tendency to want to smile with her mouth closed, BUT we grown-ups love her toothless grin and encouraged her to stick with her usual sweet smile. Hopefully the photographer will click something like this:

I can still recall the drama and trauma of school photo days. I was one who didn't want to show the missing teeth, so in first grade I did the fake smile and looked like this:

Mother usually wanted my hair in a ponytail, but in 5th grade she gave the green light to let it all hang out, provided she got to swirl in the spit curl on my forehead. I loved the long look, but the Bucky Beaver teeth...no comment:

I was sick the day school pics were taken my 9th grade year. Not only do I look like I'm about to throw up, but the hair is a total disaster. The tight sausage roll flip and head band just make me want to, well, throw up! In large quantities.

A new, wild photographic innovation was made in 1965: school pictures in color! Now, we had something else to worry about--what to wear that would flatter our own coloring. I don't know why I thought I'd look stunning in red and white, but at least the flip was much improved from freshman year, even though in spite of two years of braces the front teeth still had that oh-so-unattractive bucked look.

I hope Maddie has a great school photo experience, keeps her eyes and mouth open, and doesn't have to correct the dingy photographer when he says, "Put your lips together." If that happens, I expect her to assert herself with, "Mom and Grandma and Aunt Nancy said to keep them open!" We'll find out the results in a few weeks when those packets are handed out, for better or for worse, and Maddie comes running home screaming, "We got our pictures back!!