Photo Follow-Up

Remember a few weeks ago when I waxed poetic about Cael's school pictures and my fear of him not producing a realistic smile?  I sure do.  Those were the good ol' days.

As it turns out, I had nothing to fear about Cael's smile.  After an hour of translating preschool-speak in which my son informed me that the photographer told him he looked like a gopher, I deciphered that the employee coaxed an authentic smile out of him the same way I did.  But where I called Cael a "mugwump", the photographer simply told him he was goofy and guffawed just like Mickey's favorite dog pal by the same name.

Goofy, not a gopher. 

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there like I thought it would.  When Cael came home from school on Picture Day, having promised me that he had indeed smiled for the camera, I could practically picture the shiny prints that I would soon slip from the envelope.  In my mind's eye, I could see Cael's bright blonde curls accented by the bright red plaid shirt I'd chosen for him.

But last Friday, when the moment I'd anticipated finally arrived, I tore into the envelope only to see that Cael was not wearing that red plaid shirt I had put on him and made him swear on a stack of Iron Man comic books that he would leave the shirt on.  So instead of the beautiful, colorful pictures I'd envisioned holding in my hand, I found myself staring a picture of my son in a flesh-toned t-shirt covered in splotchy dinosaur facts.

And I call myself a photographer!  Well, actually I don't.  Clearly I shouldn't.

I guess I got carried away by the idea of professional photos of my son taken by someone who doesn't incite misbehavior and doesn't rush through his photos because dinner is on the stove and the cat is licking the chicken.  Someone who doesn't have the  entire dialogue to Tangled memorized and doesn't feel anxiety over farts and buttcracks.

So even though the photos weren't what I was expecting, I think I learned a valuable lesson.  From now on, maybe I should save the $18 and let the crazy gopher wear whatever he wants. 

And call an actual photographer.