October 2, 2009

Today was picture day at school. Last year, I was so busy with “everything else,” I actually FORGOT about it! So, my daughter’s second grade picture was taken in a t-shirt with ballerinas on it; she was rather grumpy, despite my feeble attempt at remedying the situation by telling her that she looked cute. Well my little goose reminded me of the fiasco last week, so we immediately went to her room and she picked out a dress to wear. Thank goodness, I thought to myself, this will all go so much better than second grade….famous last words! Here’s what happened this morning as we got ready for 3rd grade picture day…she really wanted strawberry raspberry jam on her toast and ate it rather quietly, even for her. As we started to leave, I noted a giant red spot on the front of her dress, right in the center (“it’s a little jam mom”)…she looked so pitifully sad, but was determined not to complain. And she did not want to change…so I dabbed it with a Clorox pen. Then she quietly said she was hungry again, so I went back to the frig for her favorite snack, mandarin oranges, hoping to coax forth a smile. Naturally, we missed the bus. And “sad” now turned to one step away from tragic. I drove her to school, but on the way, a suddenly yelping sound started coming from the backseat…yes, juice and syrup from the mandarin oranges had spilled all over her! Now she was a walking fruit basket, smelling slightly of strawberry and raspberry jam, mixed with mandarin orange juice, followed by a faint hint of Clorox. Her hair was all over the place, head band falling out, eyes red, and dress now stained from the juice of the oranges. Then, a loud mournful bellow: “Mom, this is the worst day ever!” I know what you’re thinking: someday I will look back on it and laugh. When that day comes, I’ll let you know. Sigh. In the mean time, do tell if you have any picture day tales!

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