And Then, There Were Two

I did it.  I drove my daughter to University and left her there.  omg!  I can't believe that I actually did this.  I am a bit numb at this point.  I have to admit that I cried but I was lucky enough to be able to hold that in until we got to the car.  I wanted to turn around and go back the entire way home.  But I didn't.  I did it.  She texted numerous times while we were returning to Suburbia saying how she missed us and I just couldn't express with words just how much I missed her too.  I had to be strong.  I didn't want to be.  I wanted to say "Do you want mommy to come back and get you?"  But I didn't.  I assured her that she will do well, she will succeed and she will be okay.  It feels like someone has ripped my heart out and tossed it aside.  I am spent.  I didn't sleep at all last night and with good reason.  I didn't want to sleep.  I just wanted to sit and watch my baby sleep.  Creepy, yes.  Sappy, yes.  Did I do it, no.  But I wanted to.  We spent the day with her - setting up her room, picking up her books, getting her post box set up, but when it came time to leave - we left.  There were parents who didn't.  There were parents who lingered and stayed simply because the college can't kick them out.  But we did what was right.  We left.  It was what we were supposed to do as parents.  We weren't supposed to hang out and make it harder on her.  We weren't supposed to stay and get in the way.  We weren't supposed to make other students sad that their parents had left and jealous that we had stayed as some did.  We left.  And now we are here.  Here at home.  And it just isn't the same.  It will never be the same again.  She will always be my baby girl but now she is an adult.  I am the parent of an adult child.  Wow.  So that leads me to - me.  Now what?  It will be hard tomorrow when Hubby returns to work and I am here all alone.  No kid to drive to work or pick up from work.  No child centered errands to run.  No evening of hearing about the perils of the daycare toddler-keeper.  It will be hard when I come across things - a book left here, a water bottle left there - all reminding me that she's no longer here.  I will probably cry more.  But then I will smile because I know that she is doing what needs to be done.  She is going for her goal.  She is making me proud.

Suburban Scare

I am kind of freaking out at the moment.  I know - so what's new with that?  But I am seriously serious this time.  Not that I'm not serious any other time but . . . ok, to the point.  I just got an e-mail from my daughter's school saying that a threat has been made on a bathroom wall by an unknown person that states that "something" will happen at the school on Friday.  What?  You send me this in an e-mail?  This is serious stuff people.  I'm hoping like everyone else that it is just a hoax but in today's world, you cannot afford to think that way.  The e-mail said they are taking it seriously and are upping the police presence at the school this week but that really doesn't help me to feel any better.  I want to go to the school right now and pick my daughter up and home school her for the rest of the year.  I'm assuming that the kids don't know yet because as of my dropping her off this morning she had no clue but then again neither did I.  Why weren't we told of this yesterday if they found it after school!  Why wait till all the children are at the school and at risk the next day to let everyone know.  Probably because they were too busy with their levy last night.  I don't know.  I'm just still kind of freaking out.  I've talked to a few friends but its hard to understand until its your kid in the face of possible danger.  When you see things like this on the tv, they almost don't seem real.  You think "what is this world coming to?" but its the world out there not the world in here.  This time it is my kid.  This time it is my community.  This time it hits home.  I just checked some of the social networking sites and they are talking about it.  It is supposed to be a school shooting that will happen.  Great.  No school for my daughter tomorrow or Friday.  I'll be keeping her home.  Call me paranoid but if you get a warning wouldn't you heed it?  I'm having enough trouble not putting my coat on right now and going over and getting her out of school.  But she's there.  And I'm trying to trust that she is safe.  But once she is home I'm not giving her back.  This when there was just a facebook posting about a potential shooting planned at the middle school yesterday.  With that threat, they evacuated the school and diverted busses.  With this one, they wait and let the kids come to school.  Doesn't make sense to me.  Seems that a second threat in as many days would warrant a more cautious approach.  I don't know what they're thinking.  Unfortunately for this post I have no witty ending.  Let's just hope in reality its a happy ending.

Mouse Versus Master's

I got my hair cut last night and now you can really see the blue . . . I mean green, I guess.  Apparently when you put aqua blue over blond you get green.  Go figure.  I guess I learned that in elementary school.  Yellow and blue make green.  Just never thought of it in relation to hair before.  Anyway, I'm sitting on my couch typing this blog post watching a reality tattoo show.  I'm on my new laptop.  I am excited but I'm also thinking this may not be the best thing for me.  I may never leave my couch now.  I'm also having a love/hate relationship with the program that is on.  I love tattoos.  I want more tattoos.  But a couple years ago I had a doc tell me that I should never, ever get another one. He said with all of my allergies it wouldn't be a good idea and could very well make my immune system go crazy.  I had to ask one more time, so I checked with my current doc and he said the same thing.  Boooooo!  No more tatts for me :(  So I will relish my one and covet the sleeves and body artwork of others.  I am also at the moment trying to figure out a way to get to Orlando for cheap.  Since Hubby is headed that way for work, I figured if we just tack a vacation onto the beginning of it (its our daughter's spring break), it saves us the airfare for one person since his company will pick up his tab.  We have the money.  That's not really the problem.  The problem lies in that money should really go toward our daughter's education.  Especially considering that at one of the universities she was considering, our bill would be $17000 after any and all aid including her loans!  Yikes!  Sucks to be working middle class.  You get squat when it comes to higher education. It has kind of put me in the mindset of "we'll never get that much so why try?"  I have one more idea as to how to get her education funded but I'm not letting that feline out of the sack until it is over and done with and either successful or not.  So I will crunch numbers and search Kayak.com and weigh out the benefits of Mickey Mouse versus her Master's.  There really isn't much more to report from my couch.  Hey, now that I can compute from my favorite rear rest, I think maybe I'll write that novel that's in my head.  Once upon a time . . . there was this girl who never left her couch . . . except to go to Orlando :)

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round - Except in Suburbia

Wow!  I can't believe that January is half over and I have only blogged on here twice this month!  Having bronchitis didn't help but honestly, there hasn't been that much happening that I've felt the need to share.  I went through a bit where I didn't want to just air out my frustrations on here but when I decided not to do that I realized I didn't have much else to say.  Oh well.  I guess its back to venting my frustrations.  Today, I shall tackle the Suburbia school district.  See, their tax levy didn't pass back in November.  Their solution to saving money has been to eliminate all bus service for the high school and require all students within a two mile radius of the school to walk to the middle school.  There are plenty of other misappropriated funds that they could move around in my opinion but nobody asked me and this is what they decided upon.  Nice huh?  So now every day, I have to get up, get dressed (who am I kidding, I go in my jammies), and take the child to school.  Then in the afternoon, I have to go pick her up.  Life will continue every stinkin' day like this until she graduates in June!  That is a long way off and a heck of a lot of dropping off and picking up.  It wouldn't be that bad if she wasn't one of approximately 2,800 students getting dropped off.  This has created quite the traffic hassle.  I have to go at like 2:30 p.m. to get in place to pick her up at 3:05 p.m.  Nothing like wasting a half an hour.  But not tomorrow!  No.  Tomorrow is "Wisdom Tooth Day" mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!  Yes, tomorrow our daughter is getting her wisdom teeth out.  I really don't know what to expect.  My two wisdom teeth came in and then I had one removed.  Still  have the other one.  Hubby had his out as an adult.  I remember him eating lots of mashed potatoes and jello but I think I have blocked out all the bad stuff.  I am nervous by proxy for tomorrow.  I saw a piece one time on Dateline or something where this guy had his wisdom teeth out and he lost basically all of his mental capacity.  I know, I know.  That's a once in a lifetime story and I shouldn't be afraid of that actually happening but I'm a mom and that's what I do.  So tonight, we will take our non-bus-riding daughter out to eat super crunchy food for dinner and swing by the grocery to load up on jello, mashed potatoes, soup, mac & cheese, and anything else that doesn't require much chewing.  Hey, at least she'll be off school for a few days so I won't have to deal with driving her.  See, there's always a silver lining.

Learning Your Colors

I remember when my daughter was in first grade.  She came home from school one winter day and told me she had some big, important news.  She told me I probably should sit down for this.  I obeyed not knowing what to expect.  She sat down on the couch next to me and very seriously said, "Mom, there are black people and there are white people."  I stifled a giggle and then the irritation grew within me.  We had done so much hard work to raise our child color-blind when it came to people's skin.  We always lived in very multi-ethnic communities.  We never addressed people by the color of their skin.  It was always "The boy in the blue shirt" or "The woman with the baby".  We went to great effort to raise her to see people as people - not as colors.  Then she went to school.  First grade.  They were celebrating black history month and that's where my daughter learned about color.  (She probably would have learned it in Kindergarten but we had moved from another country during black history month of her Kindergarten year so she missed quite a bit.)  It is amazing how something with such good intentions can corrupt such wonderful innocence.  I have to say that that one moment was probably my most proud moment as a parent.  We had done it.  We had raised her color-blind - even if it was for only the first six years of her life.  Thanks American school system.  Thanks.

Lost and Found

Why is it that when you need something you can never find it?  Or maybe its everything you lost is something you need?  Because if it was lost and you didn't need it, would you even realize it was lost?  Either way, we had to make an emergency shopping trip today to get an orange shirt.  See, my daughter's senior pictures are tomorrow.  One of the outfits we had planned was black pants and an orange top (her school colors) to be worn in the picture with her color guard flag.  So of course, we couldn't find it.  We looked in the laundry room, the laundry itself, her closet, her floor (she is a teenager) and even my closet.  That orange shirt was not to be found.  I know when it will turn up.  About dinner time tomorrow.  After the photo session.  I have to admit, I am extremely nervous about this photo session.  More nervous than if I were the one getting my picture taken.  That's because I'm the one that has to pay for the pictures.  That part I am not looking forward to.  $60 for an 8x10.  And we need three 8x10's to begin with.  That's a lot in my book.  So I'm nervous that these pictures won't turn out perfect because if I'm gonna pay that much for pictures, they need to be perfect.  We are supposed to take about eight or nine outfits of which the photographer will pick the four best ones (for photographic purposes.)  They said no white, no pastels, no short sleeves.  That ruled out over half of her closet.  I have news for him, we are bringing clothes that are short sleeved and - gasp! - even some prints.  We had to go out and get some pieces to complete a few outfits and ended up spending over $100 easy - and that was before the pictures!  Then we had to think about jewelry and shoes and hair and make up and then she got sunburned last Thursday so we're hoping her nose isn't peeling tomorrow.  Jeez!  Oh well, I guess that's the price you pay for having a teenaged daughter!  Wouldn't trade her for the world though - unless of course you hold the secret to where all my missing things have gone.  Then we'll need to talk :)

The Unicorns Save the Day - Again!

I tend to overreact.  I admit it.  When I hear something my mind immediately goes to the worst case scenerio.  Upon hearing news, I pick up the glass that was half empty and dump the rest of it out.  Prepare for the worst.  That's my motto.  If your standards are so low, then you are most likely to be pleasantly surprised when things go even slightly better than awful.  My hubby calls it being paranoid.  I prefer to call it being preparanoid.  Because of my outlook, I am usually able to handle whatever life throws at me.  Like today when my daughter called at 8:00 am and told me that we still owed the band/colorguard program at the school $100 and they would be putting an academic hold on her grades until we sorted things out.  Great I thought!  What could be worse than finding this out on the last day of school!  I, the queen of the disorganized, had no idea where the check carbons were or even where the bank statements were!  How was I ever going to prove my being a proper parent and paying the outrageous fee?  Leave it to my hubby to fix everything.  In the land of lollipops, unicorns and rainbows there is not such thing as a crisis.  To my pessimistic surprise, everything was rectified by noon and we were on our way to have lunch with our senior.  Yeah, today our daughter officially became a senior.  She was delighted and petrified at the same time.  Thrilled to be a senior, she has repeatedly expressed her desire not to grow up.  I love my little Peter Pan and assured her that she has some time before she has to grow up.  Because honestly, she's not the only one who isn't ready for it.  I just hope before the time comes for her to enter the real world,  that I have joined my husband and his ability to expect the best.  Look out unicorns, here I come.

School Daze

I got an interesting friend request today on facebook.  It was from a girl that I went to high school with.  How she found me I have no idea.  I don't have my high school listed on my profile and nowhere on my profile does it even give my maiden name.  She doesn't know my family.  I thought I was incognito enough to avoid being found - but no.  She won the prize because she tracked me down.  The friend request was nice and polite, making sure it was indeed me.  I hesitated for some time and thought about whether or not to click confirm.  I also got a message from her saying the same thing as the friend request.  I thought "Wow.  She's really happy that she found me."  I got awash with the nostalgic warm fuzzies and allowed my mouse to hover over confirm and then . . . click . . . and I was immediately invited to my twenty year high school reunion.  What the hell?  But there is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.  The can was open and the worms were all over the floor.  The room was spinning a little and those warm fuzzies were now creeping in the corners of my eyes with shades of blackness.  Now, not only did this girl track me down but she shared me with everyone else in the class of '91.  Great.  Just what I wanted.  High school was rough for me.  I didn't enjoy it and I don't care to relive it in any way shape or form.  This includes a reunion.  Sure, let's just gather together all of the people who didn't like me in a bar and talk at length about the names they used to call me.  Or better yet, let's recreate the late 80's/early 90's and have me pay $30 to sit at a table all by myself with nobody to talk to.  Yeah, that'll be fun.  Sounds like a blast.  Hello.  People.  There's a reason I didn't maintain contact with you and you had no desire to maintain contact with me.  We weren't friends.  We were classmates.  There is a BIG difference there.  At least in my book there is.  Sure there are one or two people I would love to see but those people know who they are.  They were at my wedding.  They have met my daughter.  They were NICE to me way back when.  We may have lost contact but those people will always be in my heart.  Its unfortunate that high school was so hellish that I have to miss out on seeing those few people I want to see due to the risk of renewed rejection from all the rest.  So to the happy, popular kids, have fun reliving your glory days.  Too bad they are over.  To the few people I wish to see again, if you ever read this you will know who you are and can reunite with me if you'd like.  No pressure.  And to myself, kudos to you for leaving that part of life behind you and moving on.  I may never click "confirm" again in my life.

I Got an A in Muppets Mom

What is going on with our education system?  My daughter is watching 80's videos as an assignment for her history class.  Huh?  What?  Yeah.  Watching videos for homework.  This particular teacher just doesn't understand the meaning of the word HISTORY.  Granted, technically history is anything in the past.  But you'd think for high school students that would mean wars and presidents and dates, but no.  This teacher thinks Recent US History is the same as Pop Culture.  I think pop culture has its place - maybe as a class in say, college.  But high school kids should be learning the fundamentals of history.  My daughter can't tell me who the president was before Ronald Reagan but she knows all about one hit wonders of the 80's.  They have had quizzes with questions like "Who is the founder of the muppets?" instead of questions about the Vietnam War or Desert Storm.  One assignment had them watching YouTube videos of 1970's Saturday Night Live Skits.  It was a huge challenge for Hubby and I to even find some that were appropriate for her to take to school.  Let alone help her to relate the skits to things happening in the 70's.  In the 70"s was birth through 7 years old for me.  I don't remember much from that time period.  I was busy with Barbies and Playdoh.  The point here is this - they say you should learn history so that you don't repeat it.  At this point, my daughter may be too dependent on foreign oil, involve herself in disputes outside the US and vote people into positions of power who don't have a clue what they're doing, but she will never wear neon colors, listen to Devo, or see cheezy 80's movies - other than the one she had to do the report on.

The Blame Game

According to Blogger, this is my 100th posting on my blog.  As yoda would say, "A momentous occasion this is".  And yet, I don't quite feel like there is anything momentous about this particular posting.  Its just the same as all the others.  I don't really have anything profound to say.  I'd rather just bitch about my daughter's extra-curricular activity.  It is a school affiliated activity and frankly, the program sucks.  They raised the price this year.  Last year it was $35.  This year it was $200.  Nice huh?  Now you'd think for that extra $165 we'd get more.  Wrong.  They have competed in half of their competitions and they still don't have their uniforms.  Wow.  So glad we paid for those.  They change the routine they perform on a weekly basis.  Nice, that won't confuse the girls.  And the best of all, the coaches tell the girls at every practice and performance that they suck.  Ok, they don't say suck, but they do tell them how horrible each practice and each performance is and that it is all their fault.  That's it.  Don't take any of the blame.  You're just the ones in charge of the program.  You're just the ones who thought up the whole routine.  You're just the ones who decided they should move up a division even though they weren't winning their lower division competitions last year.  This new higher division has requirements that our group doesn't even meet.  There are certain pieces of equipment that should be used that our girls have never laid their hands on but no, that's not the problem.  The problem is the girls.  Uh huh, whatever.  The program was fun last year.  Our daughter enjoyed it last year.  This year none of the girls want to be there at all.  They dread going to practice because they're just going to be told how bad they are at everything.  Yeah!  Way to motivate them coaches!  Send them to the school of hard knocks!  Use reverse psychology on them!  Yeah!  That'll work.  Nice to know we shelled out so much to have some "coach" take shots at our daughter's self-esteem.  I'm trying really hard to keep my big fat mouth shut on this one but my tongue is nearly bleeding from being bitten.  You don't mess with this mama lion's cub.  I feel a Polish hex coming on.  Look out!

Say Cheese! III - Finally

First off, let me apologize yet again.  I broke my promise to you and didn't blog yesterday.  The truth is I was distracted by two things - 1) it snowed here in Suburbia for the first time this year and 2) my daughter's school picture retakes finally came home.  The snow was just flurries but enough to get me excited.  I am always thrilled by snow unless it is laying on the roads and I have to drive through it.  Then snow sucks.  But more importantly, the photographers finally brought the school picture retakes to Suburbia High.  Daughter was excited to get them until she saw them.  She says she looks drunk.  I don't think they are that bad, but I can see where she's coming from with her opinion.  They're not the best pictures she's ever taken.  They're not the worst pictures she's ever taken.  The photographers did their job.  Her eyes are open.  She appears to be smiling or talking.  (We can't decide which.)  And most importantly her hair is a normal color and not like a shamrock.  She seems disappointed in them but they're school pictures.  What do you want?  There's a reason these people aren't award winning photographers shooting magazine covers and superstars.  They're here to snap a picture and move on to the next child.  I give them credit.  They do take a couple of thousand pictures in one day when they go to Suburbia High.  They can't all be Vogue-worthy.  Do I think I got my moneys worth?  By school picture standards, yes.  By actual bang for your buck, no.  But it's a picture of my baby girl so it means the world to me.  Now I just have to cut, sign, sort, and stuff them into the Christmas cards so I can get those out of my living room and into the overpriced postal system.  Oh joy!

Where's the Common Cents?

I was dreading picking my daughter up from her first winterguard practice today.  Why?  Because today was the day they found out how much it costs.  Yes, we live in a pay-to-play school district.  I don't know what it is like in other areas of the country but school is expensive here in Suburbia.  Back when I was in school, you know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the worst thing was buying the required composition notebooks.  Now, at least in our area, you have to buy all of the supplies including classroom supplies like tissues and bleach wipes.  You also have school fees.  This is a bill they send you for the classes your child is in.  This year's school fees were $142 and we only have one child.  There was also the cost of the specialized supplies for mechanical drawing class which ran us $45.  And if your child wants to do an extra-curricular activity, look out.  Our daughter is in fall colorguard and we pay between $400 and $500 for the season.  Last year, winter guard was $20.  This year they have expanded the program so that it is $200.  Then there is the band trip to Florida which will run $900 at least.  And they do minimal fundraising.  Minimal.  Very minimal.  The Florida trip is optional but how do you tell your child that you can't afford it?  That's what we had to do.  If she were going. we would have a grand total of at least $1800 for the school year.  Wow.  No wonder dinosaurs are extinct.  They died of sticker shock.

Say Cheese! II - The Continuing Saga

My daughter got her school pictures back the other day and, well, her hair is green.  Not completely green.  More like 1/3 green.  See they used a green screen and then inserted the background of our choice after the fact.  The problem lies in her blond hair.  Apparently the little wisps of hair as well as the edges of her hair were a problem with the green screen.  Great.  I called the company who said she will have to have retakes done and that she should brush her hair flat immediately before having the picture taken.  Gee.  Voluntary helmet-hair.  My daughter will be thrilled.  So after some discussion with the photography company, I was able to arrange for her to have her picture taken in the traditional way without the green screen.  This should solve the problem but the thing that upset me was their non-chalentness about the whole thing.  The woman I spoke to was in no way surprised that her hair was green.  She even asked right away if she is a blond.  So obviously, they have had problems with this process before on blonds.  Why offer a product that you know sometimes doesn't work.  They are not charging me for the retakes but it is a matter of principle.  If you made a car and the brakes worked pretty well most of the time, that wouldn't cut it.  So why are they able to offer a product that doesn't work sometimes.  I paid a pretty penny for those pictures and having them done right the first time was, forgive me, an expectation of mine.  Now, my daughter (and us for that matter) will have to go through the stress of another school picture day.  We can't get the pose and the background we wanted unless we go the hair-pasted-to-the-head route.  Maybe I'll choose the green background so we can remember the trials and tribulations of this year's school pictures.  Nah, why invite trouble.

I'm Dressing Up as a Christian for Halloween This Year

I am not a huge fan of Halloween but since when did Halloween become a bad word as far as the school system is concerned.  When I went to school, we had Halloween parties, we dressed up in Halloween costumes and we ate Halloween treats.  And guess what, most of us didn't grow up to become heathens.  I went to a catholic school and one year we even had a haunted house.  Now, I can't vouch for how frightening the entire thing was because I didn't get any further than the first room, but I do remember our priest at the time, dressed in a dracula costume lying in what appeared to my first grade eyes to be a coffin.  He didn't burst into flames and he wasn't struck down by lightening.  He scared the crap out of me but that was about it.  The thing that gets to me is they still have the parties.  Sometimes they even let the kids dress up in costumes.  The only difference is they call it an Autumn Party or something equally idiotic.  Apparently, Halloween is a pagan celebration and thus can't be celebrated in school.  But what about Easter and for that matter Christmas.  They are christian holidays that public school's happily give up their academic time for without hesitation or a ridiculous name change.  Maybe its because there is no Halloween icon.  Easter has the bunny.  Christmas has the big guy in the red suit.  Maybe Halloween just needs a representative to speak up on its behalf.  Or is it just that the christian religion has that much of a stronghold on the world today that any beliefs that differ from theirs need to be stifled.  Isn't this unfair to the pagans?  Why don't we celebrate jewish or islamic or hindu holidays as well?  Or maybe we should just have quarterly parties to celebrate - well to be politically correct - nothing.  I say either call them what they are or don't celebrate them at all.  Your child isn't going to turn evil because she wears a Dora the Explorer costume for an hour or eats a cookie with Happy Halloween iced on the top.  Lighten up.  I don't like the holiday but at least I call it what it is.  I can't decide if its the power christians have in society today or Halloween itself that scares me more.

Fourth Down & Fifty Pages To Go

At the homecoming game last night, there was a woman sitting next to us reading a book.  Now. I like football.  Don't get me wrong.  But I hate going to high school football games.  There.  I said it.  And I'll say it again.  I hate high school football games.  Our football team does not give the community a lot to look forward to.  Our guys run into the opposition and its like hitting a brick wall.  The opposition runs into us and they drag our guys down the field.  We like to fumble and seem restricted to moving two yards at a time.  The homecoming parade summed it all up.  Walking down the street in the parade, our biggest, most ferocious looking football player tripped over his own feet.  Yeah, that's how good we are.  It is hard to sit through the games as there is really nothing to cheer for and nothing to watch because the score is 30 to 3.  But we are troopers.  We sit on the cold bleachers in the bitter wind and watch.  We have people crawl over us with nachos and pizza.  We witness the teenage mating rituals.  We bite our tongues because you never know who's mother you may be sitting near. We are polite and respectful.  We are waiting for the band.  The football parents on the other hand, go to the concession stand during half-time and leave before the performance following the game.  So much for mutual respect.  But when it is time for the band and color guard, we beam with pride.  We even get stage fright by proxy.  They come out and do their thing and it is flawless.  They are the pride of Suburbia.  We sit, outfitted in our Suburbia gear, and think wow, that is our baby girl. We have done what we vowed we would never do.  We were transformed into a breed all its own - band parents.  We come for one reason and one reason only - to see the band/color guard.  So no offense to the football parents but next time, I'm bringing my book.

Say Cheese!

Today is picture day at my daughter's school.  When I was growing up that meant dressing nice, fixing your hair and smiling.  Nowadays, you can get the traditional pose in front of a gray background.  But wait, there are also blue, red, green and purple backgrounds to choose from.  Or if you're more adventurous, you can choose an untraditional pose with a computer generated background.  There are eight choices in that background category.  There's even a ladder that you can use as a prop.  And then there's the quantity.  Of course it is a predetermined fact that the mom will automatically know how many pictures are needed.  Not an easy task.  There are relatives and friends and people I barely know who apparently need a photo of my child.  I list and relist and look at the order form.  Of course there is no package that gives me what I need.  They have one that comes close but I also get photo magnets, keychains, calendars, and a 3D statue in the shape of my child's photo pose.  I don't need all that.  I love my kid but what am I going to do with all that.  I choose a reasonable package and add on about seven extra items.  Done.  And the grand total is near $100.  What?  $100 for school pictures?  When did this happen?  Then I remember, it happens every year.  And every year I vow not to pay that much the next year.  But this year is different.  I will not be paying $100 next year for school pictures.  I will be paying much, much more because my daughter will be getting her senior pictures.  We will pack up her, eight outfits, a color guard flag, a pet bird and whatever else she wants to include.  We will travel to upwards of five locations for the photo shoot.  We will even take out the bank loan it will take to cover the cost.  I can't wait.