Kids Say (and Do!) the Darndest Things.

When I was a kid school pictures were important.

Since I went to a catholic school, I had to wear a uniform.  Except for one Friday a month and school picture day.

My mom carefully picked out my outfit and hairstyle for my school picture.  Then she would hand me a paper envelope with a check inside for the photo package she had picked. 

My mom always chose the photo package for a reason.  The school photos, in their various 8×10 or 5×7 sizes, became Christmas gifts for my Grandmother’s, aunts and uncles.  Wallet sized photos to be stuffed into wallets inches thick from family photos. 

So, all gussied up on picture day, I would wait my turn to hand my envelope to the photographer, sit on a pedestal and smile.

When I had kids, I foresaw something very similar.  Since Bobby was my first, he got to go first.  I could order his photo’s ahead of time online and pick the background to really match the shirt I had picked for his special photo package.  The package that would be filled with photos I could disperse among family.

Eventually, his photos appeared in his school bag.  With great anticipation I opened the envelope.  Slowly, my anticipatory smile faded into a look of confusion.

“Bobby?”  I called, “What happened with your school photo?”

Bobby walked into the kitchen, peered at his photo and smiled.

“Oh!  I decided to make a funny face.”  Then he pointed to the photo and laughingly he asked, “Isn’t that a FUNNY face?”

I nodded.  It was pretty funny.  It was a little less funny that I had bought a WHOLE package I could no longer gift, though.  So, I did the next best thing.

I posted it on Facebook. 

The photo has gotten many laughs through the years.  It has been seen so often that it almost isn’t even funny anymore. (Almost). 

But I posted it because when your kid does something funny, let’s share the laughter wealth.

Kids across the world have been known to say and do the darnedest things.  So much so, books and TV shows have been dedicated to them.

My kids have been no different.

When Declan was almost two years old, he developed a taste for Milkbones forcing me to hide the dog biscuits in different places throughout the house, only to be sniffed out (and eaten) by Declan.  Of course, I posted this.

Like Catelyn, Declan was a stripper.  And he smiled for me when I posted a picture of the way I figured out how to keep his clothes on.

As the days wore on, different services were acquired.  By the time he was three, Declan was diagnosed with autism. 

With all his sleep and socialization issues, I had Declan outside daily at our local park to soak in the sunshine and play.

One day we noticed something was off with one of the water fountains.  Someone had changed the water pressure on the fountain, so much so that the water shot out of the fountain with great force, like water through a pressure washer. 

And even though I tried to deter Declan from the fountain telling him it was “broken,” Declan would not be deterred.  He was determined.

I took his photo and laughed; certain this would be the next motivational poster for DETERMINATION.

But as much as I laughed, I realized I could never post this photo.

Even though each one of my kids would have looked at that fountain the same way, with the same determined, “Yep.  I can drink that” mentality, things changed when Declan was diagnosed.  Declan was no longer just a kid doing something kid like and funny.  If I posted that photo would it be seen that I was poking fun at my developmentally delayed, special needs son?

The kids are passed the age of saying and doing the darndest things.  I’m not saying they’re not capable of WOWING me with some humdinger in the future, but they are kind of passed the innocence that young age affords youthful ignorance. In their young age, I’ve laughed and shared the things my kids have said and done.  There’ve been some good humdingers.

I will always be cautious about the things I post about Declan, but as a family we laugh at the DETERMINATION photo as it sits on our fridge for us to see every day.   Because kids, even kids with autism, say and do the darndest things. 

(And us parents learn from them.  Since the Bobby photo incident, I always remember to say SMILE for picture day, and I no longer buy a whole photo package sight unseen.  Live and learn! 😊)