A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Jude had been named Student of the Month for his grade. It was a very exciting honor, which left him feeling pretty pumped up about himself. He suddenly had a new confidence and focus. He was coming home every day and starting on his homework immediately. He wasn't complaining at all about swim practice, which can be a grueling. I was thinking that this was a really excellent positive step in the whole growing up process.
Well, about a week later, when he jumped into my car after school, he was feeling totally miserable.
"Mom, it's terrible, it's just terrible," said Jude, practically on the verge of tears.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, concerned.
"The picture. It's horrible, it's just the worst. I can't believe that everyone's going to see it!!"
After a bit of questioning, I finally found out the problem.
All of the Student of the Months, one from each grade, are photographed and their pictures are displayed on a bulletin board in the hallway at school for everyone to admire.
Here is Jude's...
It's bad. It's really, really bad. I mean, HOW did this happen? Why didn't the teacher who was taking the picture suggest that he do a little something with his hair? And perhaps smile a bit more naturally?
And the worst thing of all, is that in this picture he totally looks like...
For those of you not familiar with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Fregley is the main character's uber-dorky friend. It's not a good resemblance.
I'm hoping that he can bounce back from this terrible social mishap. With any luck, he'll recover before it causes any serious psychological damage.
Or maybe girls go for the uber-dork look? Sigh...
Oh poor guy. I have one of those pictures from the 8th grade. I thought I was looking pretty good that day but after pictures surfaced it was definitely not the look I was going for. I'm sure he'll bounce back and within a week people will forget about it. I think it is a major battle all kids have.
Posted by: Kendra | 04/14/2013 at 08:03 AM
The nice thing is that this is fourth grade. The social stigma won't last long. Now if it was say Freshman year, there'd be no living it down.
Posted by: VandyJ | 04/14/2013 at 10:55 AM
I think he looks so cute, really cute kid.
Posted by: Tina Erickson | 04/14/2013 at 01:23 PM
Oh my god! It is really bad but somehow so adorable all at once! I mean, I guess it's bad from his pov but cute from ours? It's a keeper, that's for sure!
Posted by: becky | 04/14/2013 at 03:10 PM
I'm with Becky. It's pretty bad. But at the same time it is endearingly cute.
Posted by: Arnebya | 04/14/2013 at 05:48 PM
I agree that the picture is endearingly cute. But if it bothers Jude, can you take a new photo? Assuming he has the certificate, just have him hold it up, take several shots and let him pick the one he likes, then have it printed in the same size as the one that's currently hanging in the school. Take it in to the office, and ask if you can swap the new photo for the old one. Bonus: You keep the "Fregley" version for a keepsake.
Posted by: Meg | 04/15/2013 at 11:48 AM