Picking Your Battles - Yearbook Photos

Once upon a time, I dressed my children in elaborate, preferably monogrammed, boutique clothing. The first two children were immaculately groomed in their coordinated outfits and were, in my opinion, downright adorable. 

  

 

Then along came number three and this clothing practice was less practical.  Plus, with three children, it began to remind me of The Sound of Music.

That is when I became more practical and switched to just color coordinating their outfits to simplify our never ending laundry.

 It has been difficult for me to let go and let the children discover their own style. Jackson has gone through phases of cultivating a few looks, like the layered look and then the camo look last year, that I have not quite understood. Am I really supposed to understand everything?

Where I draw the line and lay down the law is church.  I dictate what is worn to church, there are guidelines for school and the rest can be debated along the way.  Athletic practice clothing has become a free-for-all and I just smile and wave and cheer even when I think they resemble small homeless people.

School yearbook photos were today.  Days in advanced, I asked everyone what they were wearing. I wanted to avoid last minute demands or surprises.

Jackson warned me well in advance that he was going to wear the most wretched, junkiest athletic clothing he could find.  He was clear about the fact he was going to school where his comfort is of the utmost importance in order for him to learn.  He was not wearing any stiff, fancy, dressy churchy clothes just because the school made him pose for a photo.

This morning, Holland dressed and groomed herself appropriately without complaint.  Austin selected a bright orange v-neck shirt which he obviously thought he looked good in because he seemed very confident wearing it.  I tried to get the image of Austin with a big handlebar mustache and chest hairs popping out of the top the shirt and a thick gold chain out of my mind.  Austin needed a haircut but since he is allergic to haircuts and my battle tolerance has been low, I decided the yearbook photo would be more appropriate with Austin's hair in a normal state.

Then there was Jackson.  Jackson came in wearing the most worn out, to the point of appearing retro, Alabama t-shirt that I had never seen.  I just smiled sweetly at him and reminded him to brush his hair.  He looked a little bewildered and deflated that I did not make him change but the battle was not in me.

From the beginning, I have said I do not make scrapbooks but I am collecting evidence files.  Too much has happened for me to worry about what other people think.  Too much has happened for me to worry about the small things.  If they want to have yearbook photos that are worthy of a best of the worst contests, then so be it!

If you saw my boys today and you wondered if I had forgotten that it was picture day, no I did not.  My children were sent off to school in a loving "state of grace."  I saved my battle for something bigger than school photos.  Plus, I never know when to expect the next war.

+Maryjane Johnson, is this from the Isaiah collection?  If so, that would explain why it is his favorite:).  Those boys are true buds.