So I'll be honest, the reason I'm even thinking about this is because one of our kids school photos is awful. Like AWFUL. Like I opened the envelope and half expected there to be a note that said "GOTCHA!" because they are awful.

Her head is off center, her hair, good heavens her hair, is a mess, did she or someone else attempt a pony tail? Her smile is awkwardly half hearted.

This is no Lifetouch school photo, this is a private school photographer who got it all wrong.

My husband, ever the practical one, naturally suggested retakes. Not just for this child but another one of our kids whose photo wasn't awful but also wasn't good. Retakes doesn't sound remotely appealing to me for two reasons: 1. If they couldn't keep her looking good and together when it was a school wide picture day why would they be able to do it on a random retake day. 2. I don't want to wait another 4-6 weeks for the package. Grandparents are asking for photos you know, it's nearly Thanksgiving.

With four school agers we spend over $100 on school picture packages each fall and we buy pretty much the basics. An 8X10 for our wall, 5X7's for grandparents and a handful of wallets is all we need. Yet we spend over $100.

The past couple years I've started to wonder, are we out of touch? Is it crazy we still do this? I even try to have our youngests photos done with the same color background and the same vertical pose so that her photo can match on the all.

Do you still get school photos or do you just do your own? If you've had a bad photo have you done retakes with success or do you just call it a good story/memory maker and call it a day?

{PS NO awful school photo pictured here because I care about the future google searches my little ones may do.}