class photos today. oh, right. we were supposed to start off our week with Hey Diddle, Diddle. unfortunately, it took 2 hours (!!!) for my class to be photographed. why, you ask? well, my kids were eager enough, the girls even refused to play outside, because their hair would get messed up (my girls, the vanity club!). anyway, aside from the crying jag from 2 of my kids (new students), we did pretty okay in our group picture. sure, there was that one boy who wouldn't stop picking his nose. or that little girl who kept showing off her new knickers. but hey, these are 2 year-olds here. you really can't expect a class photo to be perfect.

so on to the solo pictures. what fun! we did it according to the class list (which, by the way, is not alphabetical, chronological, or in any other form of order known to man). each child was made to sit on a chair, look at the camera, and smile. which worked for a few of them. a very little few. say, 1 or 2 of my kids. more often than not, they looked shell-shocked. like, "who the h*#l is this dude, and why is he making goofy faces at me?" some would just have that blank look on their faces, probably wondering what we're having for snack today (since we were already running late by this time, everybody was cranky with hunger).

others would valiantly try to smile, even as their eyes start to tear up - "stranger! stranger! but still must smile, camera pointed this way..." my favorites were the ones too excited to wait for the camera to point their way. from the time they got to school, to the time we had lunch, they had this smile plastered on their faces. you know, the kind that pulls the lips back from the teeth, pushes the cheeks high up their faces, and all but makes their eyes disappear. that smile. some would even call it a grimace. characters, all of them!

and Hey Diddle, Diddle? we got to recite the rhyme. all other activities put on hold. try again tomorrow...

(posted on Facebook 11 May 2009)