One universal truth among parents has to be this:
You absolutely cannot plan for everything and some things you plan will not turn out how you expected.
New York mom Nicole Bartlett recently found that out when her three-year-old daughter's first picture day went hilariously wrong.
Early in the school year, Bartlett prepared her daughter Alina in an adorable pink dress, pink headband and her long hair brushed carefully back from her face.
Bartlett reflected:
"It was her first picture day. I got her up a little early and explained to her it was a special day, so you get a little hairspray and hair gel."
"I had really, really high hopes. I usually let her wear her hair up for school just to keep it out of her face and everything. But for picture day, I wanted it down."
Bartlett thought it would be pretty easy going.
"Her classroom was scheduled for morning picture time at like 9:30 AM. So I was like, 'Perfect. She's going to get off the bus, basically have breakfast, and go straight to pictures."
But Bartlett realized later that was not the case.
"That is not what happened."
You can see Bartlett's post here:
Bartlett had high hopes for the photos from her daughter's first picture day.
She'd gone so far as to plan on using framed copies of her daughter's first picture day photos as Christmas gifts for her family members. But in October when she received the proofs, Bartlett was taken aback by the results.
Barlett explained:
"When I opened her backpack and saw the order form with the options for the pictures, all four of them pretty much looked the same. I laughed, but I was a little upset."
"I was like, 'I kind of want to ask her teacher if they have picture retakes,' and my mom was like, 'She's in preschool, Nicole. They don't have picture retakes."
But Bartlett decided to focus on the positives.
"Once I started really thinking about it and showing everybody the pictures, they were like, 'This is something that's going to be shown on her wedding day. This is better than you could have imagined.'"
"So we ended up ordering a huge package, and everyone is still getting their framed picture."
Fellow Instagrammers thought the photo was adorable and hilarious.
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
Others pointed out Alina was clearly having fun, which was the most important part.
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
@nkbartlett/Instagram
Though the photos were not what Bartlett had expected, they may have actually turned out to be much more.
They were the start of wonderful memories and by sharing them with the internet, Bartlett and Alina managed to make a lot of people's days just a little bit better.
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@alexander001a/Bluesky 
