Do You Get School Pictures?

We never have. And Beth, I'm with ya, a yearbook for elementary?!?!

Throw away the guilt. Explain to them you understand they are disappointed but they WILL get a yearbook and Spring pictures. Explain that the family has a budget and you are sticking to it...and that is that. Explain it once and drop the subject...and the unnecessary guilt. If they bring it up or whine about it again tell them you already explained the family's situation and you will not explain it again..end of subject.

I only buy the cheapest package once a year and the yearbook for each of my kiddos.

Good luck and best wishes!

I always get the cheapest package and give them to the grandparents and relatives out of town. The only pictures I frame and put up in my house, are candid pictures :)

It KILLS my husband when I spend $ on school pictures because his father is a world renowned photographer... BUT, until his dad offers, I'm going to keep spending money on school pictures.

Yup but I get the cheapest package. I just get them to have them...I'll put them in a scrapbook for them. I don't put them out either.

She probably wants the wallet-sized ones to give to her friends, and to send to Grandma and Grandpa. I'd get her a sheet or two of the wallet-sized so she won't feel left-out when her friends are trading pictures at school.

I get the fall pictures, but I hate the spring pictures and decline those. I think with them doing pictures twice a year like they do now (only did it once when I was a kid) that getting them only one of the two times is plenty. I do like to get a new 8 x 10 to not only hang up, but than later to put in their scrap book so they can look back on the school years. I have all of my old school ones, and I love to look at them and see how I have changed and grown over the years.

Yes and I am happy that they offer retakes in case they don't turn out. I buy the cheapest package I can get..I buy them because of the memories and if you put a collage together then you the natural aging in your kids...Cool to see :)

I always get the cheaper package, this way they dont get left out. That and I am not good at getting the family pics taken. Now that my daughter is in HS she has asked for some of her school pictures for the junior high year book. I even know that in elementry school they were to bring a school ( or something close to it) for the bulletion board, The person person who got the most correct ( guessing who was who) got a small gift certificate - I think like anice cream cone from Mc d's - so I guess yes I always get the pics. I know that my sister does not but she has 7 kids.

Nope. This was the first year I did not get the individual pictures. I just got a class picture for both of them. I figure, I take about a million pictures of them all year long doing some great things and having fun. I don't take any class pictures, so he might want one of them. Plus, they are crazy stupid expensive. If I want a nice individual one I can get it at Sear/Walmart/JC Penny's and only pay $10 and get a bazillion and I get to chose which one I want.
L.

I get the school pictures every year. I usually send the wallet size one with my christmas cards for family and friends. I also like having the 8x10 in a frame. I keep them all, and sometimes will pull each year out to see how he has grown.

However, I just have one child, so I am sure it is the less expensive route. If she feels like she wants her own individual picture, you can always take one of her in her dance outift, and hang it on the wall. Sometimes they like to have their individual shot on display.

I only get them to have the class picture. Otherwise I would just go to Target and get the picture taken for $9.99. It kills me to spend $29 though. I am a picture fanatic too.

I don't get the school pictures. With 3 kids in school it is just way too much. Even with the cheapest packet at $15 it adds up with 3 kids and the picture aren't anything special anyway. When they have the pictures done they come home with a school calendar with their picture and that is good enough for my kids.

I got like the $10 package.

At our school, you have to pay in advance which I hate because my daughter is picky. So, I usually get the absolute cheapest pack and then if it is great, I will re-order.

Most of the time, I do not re-order. My daughter is also on the cheer squad and the team photographer takes a lot of pics at the games and he posts everything on his webpage. I just buy the great shots he takes of her at the ballgames which are far better than the posed school picture.

Yes, I buy each and every yearbook and have since K. We are now in 11th grade.

I only order them if they look really good.
Usually one set does , and we don't get family pictures done very often.

Mine are pissed because I won't buy them their elementary school year books.

REALLY ??? Yearbooks for elementary???

We buy the basic package--class picture, about 10 wallets, and some 3X5s to send to the grandparents. I look at them as historical artifacts, and I know that as a kid I loved to look back at my school pics to see the change. We also assembled collages when we graduated from high school, and it was nice to have a class picture for each grade along the way. I think it costs like $14.

I can't remember the last time I bought school photos. I have 4 kids and when all 4 of them were in school it just got to be too expensive. Here in Cali I can't get a package for less than $35 per kid. It adds up pretty quick. I didn't even do senior portraits for my daughters. Over $300 for the smallest packages there.
I am however a camera happy person and I take thousands of photos every year so my kids' lives are very well documented. And you know, I got senior portraits done way back when and not a single family member or person I know still has them displayed. Not even me. They are all in a box somewhere. So my feeling is why waste the money if all of them are put in boxes or scrapbooks that are rarely looked at.
I do buy the kids yearbooks every year though (my son's is $90 this year!).

My daughter's school has a really cheap package where I can buy a few sheets of wallet size pictures for like $8. I keep one for her scrapebook, give one to each grandparent and/or uncles & aunts who want one then I let her had the rest out to her friends. She is only in kindergarten but I plan on going this route if it is a decent price.

We only get a professional family picture every 3 years, but we only get family pictures not individual pictures so for now I can justify getting the school ones.

I think its fun to go back and look at my old school pictures, even though some are AWFUL!! :)

I buy one of the cheapest packages. I have them in small frames in the living room. They will go in a scrapbook and someday we will look back and see how they changed over the years.

Not really. It's just like birthday parties. Only the important years get parties, yearbooks and pictures. If it's her last year in that school, then yes...otherwise, it doesn't make any sense to me.

what you could do is just order wallet size pics for both of them and stick them in your christmas cards. this way they dont have to be all dressed up and you're only hoping they smile and their hair is laying flat. i order pics because my mom puts the 8 by 10 on her wall and my grandma puts 4 by 6's on her mantel of the great grandkids. we don't do family pics often though.

I had to pre pay for my daughter's school pics and the cheapest package was $24 - for pics I don't even know are going to be good!!

So I did it mostly to get the class photo and I will hope it will turn out well.

Yes--we get them every year.
Oddly enough, last year's spring pictures turned out better than his regular ones, even though we were unaware of the day, etc. for the school pictures--go figure!

No I don't ever order school pictures. Mostly because I am a pro photographer and just do it myself how I want it to be done. Also the school pictures are always terrible.

Nope. Way too expensive, and my kids never have a real smile for the school photographer. I take my own pictures (just a point and shoot) and order wallet size and 8X10s. I've never purchased school pics though, so my kids don't know any different. Good for you for sticking with your January family photos.

Not normally... ONLY because I don't like school backgrounds (they have flowers or fall type scenery, I'm not a fan)... I do take him for pictures every year on my own though~

I don't. I think its a rip off. Way over priced and i can't see what she looks like at school in the middle of the day.
I take her to picture people and get the $18 coupon package.
I also order the ones in the spring. They are way cuter and cheaper.

I don't buy school pictures. Too expensive and I take my own pictures that are much better.

We buy them every year, I love to see how they grow in pictures. Life Touch (the company who does my kids pics at school) has tons of different background choices. My oldest is in Kindergarten and we let him pick the green chalk board back ground that said Kingergarten on it.

I did this year - to use as the photo that goes in Christmas cards. But it occurs to me that it was kinda dumb to buy a photo package without being able to see proofs first! Luckily they came out ok, but I think in the future I will just get the class photo.

I always purchased the least expensive package. But I was rarely pleased with the pictures.
For their senior pics we just got the free one for the year book. I did the photos for my older son and will have a teenage girl we know do the younger one. Her photos are the best we have ever had taken.

I do get school pictures for both kids every year. The photographer our schools use lets you choose from about a dozen different backgrounds which I appreciate. I also hang them up every year though so that makes a difference in how much I'm willing to pay for them. I've got really pretty 8x10 frames for each kid & I just stick the newest picture in the front with all the previous ones behind. It's awesome to have a whole bunch of the same size photos year by year to look at each fall when the new pictures are delivered. ;)

I always bought them. To me they are priceless. So if they aren't perfect
who cares. The picture is our true child!!!!