Today is picture day. Right about now Ryley is posing for his picture, since Kindergardners go first. I hope that he will smile his big toothy grin, even though he is not wearing his beloved tie.
Ryley has always loved this particular tie–a navy blue clip-on model. He wore it during his preschool Christmas program two years running and he has worn it on Easter. If Ryley senses that a day is special in any way, he digs his tie out of the toy box, shoe box, from under his bed, from wherever a little boy stashes his treasures, and clips it on, proudly. Today was a tie-day, to Ryley.
To mommy, it wasn’t. Here I sit second-guessing myself, though. What harm would it have done? I suppose that I battle the urge to send my kids off to school looking like Mr. and Miss Elementary School, especially on picture day. I can’t help it!
Thankfully, though, I had wisdom enough to let him wear his tie around the house this morning before school. I took a picture–this was a happy compromise.
I will most likely hang Ryley’s official kindergarten picture on the wall and distribute it to grandparents. But this picture captures Ryley as Kindergartner much more than any school photo ever could–he is still little enough to go wild over a navy blue, polyester, wrinkled, dusty, 8-inch long, clip-on piece of neck-fashion. That little scrap of fabric makes him feel so big! It doesn’t take much, and I love that.
Oh the stress of picture day! I think you handled this one well. Your Dad agrees. He would hate to see Ryley come home with a bloody nose. So much for male wisdom!
I think you should’ve let him wear it. Just look how happy it made him!