Nobody told me that for the first day of class you need to photograph your child holding a little billboard saying, “First Day of 3rd (or whichever) grade.” It’s a tradition I discovered by absolute chance on social media.
Not that my child would agree even if I had known about it. I can only imagine her deeply sarcastic look if I suggested something so momsy.
My kid is deeply independent – a true American – and would never let me do it. As it is, I have to beg her to take a normal picture, let alone a posed one.
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For us, it’s either no picture at all or a picture of her giving me the dirtiest of looks.
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I stopped trying to get him in front of the camera when I realized all my pictures of him, he was either covering his face, or looked like he was about to cry. Now and then I manage to sneak up on him, and get a picture of him assembling something, or playing a game with siblings.
I thought you only used Twitter, not platforms like FB, IG, whatever. Don’t you have a bunch of mom friends, acquaintances, frenemies who’d mention it in passing, pull out their kid photos folder on their phone?
First day of school photos existed for a long time. Just not cute ones with kids holding up signs and not every year. Older kids who didn’t go to schools with dress codes or uniforms would stress out about picking their first day of school outfits (middle school to high school, changing to a different school, etc) because that’s when you’d make an impression.
I don’t know if Picture Day (which is separate from 1st day of school pictures or outfits) still exists in this era. The family Xmas letter/postcard still is a thing.
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Welcome to the blog, very new reader!
Always happy to see new folks join us.
No, I don’t have Mom friends. I barely have any friends. Out of the 3 friends I see regularly, two mommed back in the previous century and I’ve never at all.
Me with a bunch of mom friends would be… a completely different person. How do people imagine all this reading, chairing, publishing, translating and public speaking being able to coexist with a bunch of mom friends?
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I think it’s a slightly newer tradition and not everyone does it. But it’s quite sweet. The goal is to post a first day and a last day picture side by side. You really see how much the children change in 9 months. And if you do it every year, you have a little archive of their pictures. It’s also cute to see how their little hobbies and interests change (or stay the same) over time.
I think it’s a slightly newer tradition and not everyone does it. But it’s quite sweet. The goal is to post a first day and a last day picture side by side. You really see how much the children change in 9 months. And if you do it every year, you have a little archive of their pictures. It’s also cute to see how their little hobbies and interests change (or stay the same) over time.
My child’s hobby of defeating my need to photograph her has remained pretty consistent over the years, I’ve got to say.
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I grew up with first day pictures until junior high. I do it now to send to the grandparents, initially to prove that I was taking the kids’ education seriously and formally starting the school year and now because they enjoy it. It never goes on social media. It is fun to line up the shots from year to year as a way to see their growth and compare between kids. We don’t make a big deal out of it beyond that.
Kharking
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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