we got school pictures back

You know, the group one, featuring everyone in class. My older daughter has lots of friends, and we looked from picture to picture, thinking, oh, wow, this one is so talented, and this one is so smart, and this one is always so polite, and this one is wise beyond her years. What a great group of kids!

Then we looked at the pictures from my middle daughter’s class, and it was a little different. It’s not a close group. There’s the kid who won’t let anyone touch her Barbies. There’s the kid who cut his own hair on picture day. There’s the kid who crashed the family car. There’s the kid who beat up his dad and calls everyone “dickweed.”

It was the same way with me and my brother. My class was tight-knit, full of friendly, competitive, bright children. My brother’s class was the Mutants from Table 9. I know these are just kids, and many of them are ugly ducklings, in unique situations, full of potential not yet reached. And my brother turned out great. I’m sure these kids will, too. But a picture can tell quite a story.

I have an ugly duckling. My son can register for preschool on Thursday. I can just hear the parents who will view his school picture in association with all the other kids in his class.

“What’s up with this kid?”

A lot, actually. But he’s tough. And he blossoms a little more every day. He’ll need a full-time helper or a nurse to accompany him to school, at least at first. But Phineas has been through so much, and I’m proud of him. Sometimes the picture doesn’t tell the whole story.