It's that time of year AGAIN! All the High School Juniors are sitting in school, beyond excited to finally become that all-so coveted Senior. To be the top dog of the school, to have glory and respect as lord over all. But, before we can get there, there are a few t's that must be crossed and i's that must be dotted. 

Have you passed all your classes? Check. Have you felt the full anguish of being a teenager? Check. Have you slammed the door in at least one parent’s face? Check. Have you attended pep rallies, sports practices, band or choir performances, attended every seemingly-lame assembly from ''Don't Do Drugs'' to ''Why You Should Join the Army''? Check, check, and check! Whew, guess you got them all!

Great. So, you get to be a High School Senior. Only, there is one more thing you have to do. Senior pictures. For some, this is a super exciting experience and they can't wait for it. These people already have a million outfits picked out and are doing hair and make-up trials. While there are others who are only getting pictures because their mom is making them. Well, buck up Sally because these are important whether you think so now or not. Let me tell you why.

First things first. Let’s address the Moms in the room. Your mom has probably mentioned this a time or two but, your mom did give birth to you. For the rest of your life you will owe it to her for that. She changed diapers, she wiped tears and blood, she cooked your meals, she washed your stinky laundry, and she laughed at every dumb joke you thought was hilarious. Your mom has always been your number one fan and your biggest support. Whether or not you accepted it. I honestly think you owe it to her to give her a few hours of your life to take some nice pictures for her. All those things I listed previously, she will no longer be doing them for you. Sure, that seems like a good thing for her right? She gets more time to herself to do what she wants. However, to your mom, her whole world is crumbling because in a short years’ time, you will be leaving home.  AHHHHH! That is such a scary thought for moms. Yes, they do freak out a little bit. They do start acting a little weirder. Someday when you are in her shoes saying good bye to your baby, you will understand.

This is your chance to give you mom something she will love and cherish when you are hundreds of miles away at college. This can also be something for the rest of your family too. Grandparents appreciate remembering you back when you were innocent and kind before you ''changed''. Aunts and Uncles love to have pictures to show to their friends because who believes you got into an Ivy League school without a picture to back it up? This may seem silly, but to them it means the world.

 The next reason I believe Senior pictures are SUPER important is, in ten years you will look nothing like yourself. This answer seems a bit harsh and I do apologize up front. However, in ten years a lot of things will change. For 95% of people, how you look in high school is going to be the best you look for your entire life! So why not capture those good looks? Think about it. You go off to college and you stop playing sports and you start eating more junk food (mom's not around to tell you no) and after a while you start putting on a few pounds. Or you might even get married and pop out a kid in all that time. Let me tell you, I can't even count how many times I have looked back and my Senior pictures and thought wow I was so skinny then! What happened! Well time happened. But, at least I can look back and say "at one point I could fit into size 2 jeans.'' I get it, this is brutally honest and again I am sorry. However, it is the truth. 

The last reason Senior pictures should not be over looked is for your children. I can feel your eye rolls on this one, trust me. Most of you haven't given a thought to having kids someday. Trust me that is just fine. You don't need to think about having kids. But, someday, kids might happen for you. And they are going to want to see these pictures. They might laugh at you, they might tell you that you were so much prettier back then, or they might just say your lame and walk away. Whichever reaction you get, they are all worth it! My daughter is only 8 and she LOVES looking through all my old photos. I get a lot of, "Was I born yet?" or "You WERE so pretty.'' Either way she gets to see what her mom was like, and how much she is just like me. As much as she enjoys looking at them, I enjoy looking at them with her.