First Day of School - When you give in.

One of those great pieces of advice from my parents?

Pick your battles.

As in, when you have to get up far before your kids and are forcing back-to-school photos before they have even had breakfast moments? Yeah that.

You just go with it.

You may start with the "please put your hand on the railing" shots...followed by "put your hands on your hips and look natural."

But quickly you let it go.

And maybe you just let them be them. Ridiculousness and all.

And then you get those shots where you are alternately horrified and proud of how fast they are growing.

And then they rock it back to reality.

Because they are ridiculous and exasperating and wonderful.

And they make all of this chaos and the fights over what to wear or what not to wear, and all of that first day of school drama worth it.

Because they're just headed in the right direction.