Show and Tell – Worst School Pictures!
It’s Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea at Momfessionals and today it is all about sharing our WORST school picture….ummm…that would be pictures for me! I decided to focus only on myself today and take a little walk down memory lane instead of embarrassing any of my offspring!
I started off on the right foot! Here I am in kindergarten with my long blonde hair and baby teeth. I was still halfway confident enough to smile naturally and school pictures were non stressful. This is probably my favorite school picture ever! I love my memories of kindergarten.
The downfall all began when a daughter of one of my mom’s friends whom I really looked up to cut her long hair into a pixie cut and I decided I wanted my hair the same way. Kimberly Cunningham was tall and pretty and could play tether ball like no other so in 1st grade I talked my mom into this haircut and it wasn’t terrible and I was still able to smile. The haircut, however, seemed to cause my hair to begin to be unruly. It was the mid 70’s and Dorothy Hamill was skating in the Olympics and I had to have “the do” so for 2nd and 3rd grade I rocked it. Oh 4th grade, what a turning point for me as this was my very last picture without glasses. On to 5th grade, I mean, I needed to see but did the glasses really need to be the only focal point here?!! My hair was still kind of crazy and unruly and oh what a round brush or flat iron may have done for me! I am Carly Jo’s age here but to me I look so much more mature. As if the glasses were not enough, I also added braces at the end of 5th grade. You can see in 6th grade I began to look rather unsure of myself but oh how I loved that plaid shirt! It was a popover style and I’m pretty sure it was Gloria Vanderbilt! But of course, I have saved the best for last…….
Peer pressure struck and I NEEDED my glasses, I mean look at my pupils!! I just wanted one picture in my favorite Izod shirt NOT wearing those hideous glasses but y’all, I couldn’t see the camera or the photographer. Here I am looking all googly eyed with my still unruly hair and my braces. This picture is proof that a mom only sees you on the inside and thinks you are always beautiful because not only did she continue to display this picture in my home, she also gave it to my grandparents to display in theirs! To make it even better my brother wore the same shirt for his 5th grade picture this year and he still to this day will tease me about this picture!
Walking down memory lane isn’t always sunshine and roses. When I look back at some of these pictures on the surface they seem awkward and geeky and a little shy but if I really think about my time from 1st to 7th grade I remember so much laughter and silliness. Slumber parties and skating rinks and summers at the softball park. Parents who loved me and thought I was smart and tried to instill work ethic and good values. Childhood years when I was free to just be me before peer pressure and self awareness creeped in. Sometimes I feel like I am so much more like the girl in these pictures on the inside now than I was during many of the years in between. Wow, that was getting a little deep!
Last August I wrote all about Who I was in High School and Katy and I would LOVE for you to join us back here next Tuesday to share your school day memories and what you might tell your younger self as part of the Spiel the Beans with the Queens linkup party!
Do you have a school picture you would like to forget?
Click the image for all my faves!
Let’s Get Social
Shelly, I love this post! And I think you were adorable even in the awkwardness! I may have to go dig out my old school photos now. I had very similar glasses back when they were necessity rather than an accessory! And my father always made us get the clearance frames which of course were the ugliest ones!
Thanks for sharing!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Baha ha! The humor in the way you reflect back on these pictures is so funny. What a fun little memory lane trip.
I'm glad I can look back and laugh now! Haha…and to think I'm pretty sure I actually handed these out to friends!!
And now glasses are such a fashion statement!! I seriously hated those suckers so much and couldn't wait for contacts.
Girl, every single school picture I have is HORRIBLE! Big glasses, fat stages, bad clothing choices thanks to the decade…you get it. At least we morphed into HOT MAMAS! xoxoxox
I know Amanda…it was a terrible phase for me! Of course I look back and I wasn't nearly as chubby as I thought I was!
I find them adorable though!
I’m excited to start a two-peat collaboration with Los Angeles-based brand TOBI this week at the blog via a sexy outfit – come check it out & lemme know what you think!
Happy Tuesday!
Rebecca
http://www.redtagchiclosangeles.com
I love every single one of these pictures!! I'm sad I missed linking with this one!
Oh my, the dreaded pixie and Hamil cut! Sported both!! And, I have a pic in the same Izod shirt!! Good times.
How cute! I love them all! I look back at school pics and think "what was my MOM thinking" and now my girls do the same with theirs! And I still think my daughters are the most beautiful, smart and sweet girls ever!
What a great walk down memory lane! I had some interesting haircuts throughout elementary school, too. Hopefully my daughter can avoid all that!
Oh my gosh I think my glasses at that age were similar. The 80s were a terrible time for needing eyewear!
Liz from http://www.familyoffoley.wordpress.com
You are adorable in your little Gloria Vanderbilt! I get where you're coming from in feeling more like that girl on the inside now. The truth is, no matter how old I get, I still have moments of insecurity. I am so thankful that I can recognize that many times the scenarios I'm imagining are just in my head…maybe (hopefully) I've matured just a tad in my old age! I definitely have more fun in my old age! I blame the wine for that! 😉
I wanted to join you but didn't get my photos together from my Mom. While you may not like the photos, you will forever cherish the memories you made during those years.
OH my goodness! The fact that you have all of those pictures, LOVE! I think/hope my parents have all of my old photos somewhere, I don't have any. I need to remedy that. Can't wait for the link up next week!
It's so weird….I get down with myself still but I don't really ever feel insecure anymore. It's kind of weird actually because I was insecure almost my entire life. But it's so funny to me….if I ever say that to people who "knew me when" they always laugh and say "yeah right" like I'm crazy! Evidently I hid it well.
Horrible! I don't remember having any other option at all!
I think a mother's love is totally true…I look at my kids pictures and think they never went through an "ugly" stage but they will point it out. haha
GirlFRIEND!!!! I am laughing because I have pictures that look JUST like these!!! Gloria Vanderbilt….you are so LUCKY!!! My mom WOULD NOT pay that much for clothes and I wanted a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans soooooooo bad and Kappa T-shoes!!! My aunt found me a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans at a resale shop and got them for me…… but they were YELLOW…..and I wore them….yikes!!!! I still have strong negative feelings about a girl named Dina who looked perfect and had all the perfect clothes! And guess what….. she had 4 kids and I think she might be a size 4 and still looks PERFECT……she could have at least gotten fat! LOL…..
SHELLY!!!!! You are still so precious though, despite those glasses! When I was in middle school, I really wanted glasses and braces because all of the popular kids had them and I didn't need either. So who knows – maybe there was a girl out there who looked up to you and those glasses and braces because she didn't have them! <3 😉
Bahahaha…maybe! I always crack up because my hometown friends remember a different person than I remember. Hope you have a great weekend Emily!
That hooker Dina….don't we all have one of those in our lives!
So true Stephanie! I wish I could go back and not be so worried about the little things and just be confident and enjoy life!
I am a memory queen Sarah…I have pictures EVERYWHERE and I use to scrapbook them all but then ran out of time!