Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Picture Day...Or the Fine Art of Juggling Sharp Objects!

Tomorrow is picture day.  Now, I know parents want a great picture of their child...I know!  But, I must tell you about picture day from my point of view! 

Managing a group of children who are not big fans of changes in schedules, bright lights, loud noises, large objects, new people; and then requiring that the child sit down, look at a person they don't know, smile and, of course, do all of this without WIGGLING...is like herding a group of cats into a room full of dogs.  Needless to say, it's not always easy!  

Well, of course, everything will be just fine!  The children will adjust.  The adults will make it through the day.  The photography equipment will be just fine.  The photographers will live to make it through another picture day at another school!  And, we will see smiles...a minimal amount of wiggling and (hopefully) clean clothes and combed hair from the children!  

But, I always have a million things going through my mind before we head down to a loud, large, echoing cafeteria for picture day.  ..."Got to grab the puppet, so we can catch a smile as the puppet gives kisses.  Don't forget the maracas or other musical instrument so we are happily listening to the music and 'forgeting' that we are uncomfortable with the loud noise and bright lights.  And, remember to sing with the child who will almost always smile as he is joining in the singing." 

"Oh, and, wait, make sure no one spills any breakfast on their clothes!   And, yes, we will need to avoid the long lines.  We will need to time this just right.  We will need to check the photos as they are being done.  We will need to make sure the photographer doesn't try to hurry through.   We may need to remind the photographer that it may take 1,2,3 or many more takes before we get a picture with a smile!   We will need to strategically position all adults to make sure no one tries to take off or tries to dismantle any equipment!"  (children or ADULT trying to escape...ALL will be stopped!)

Whew...I'm exhausted just THINKING about tomorrow.   Good thing I have all next week off.  I may need a whole week to recover from picture day! 

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