I was surfing Flickr and stumbled upon this photo.
Naturally, I immediately emailed it to everyone I knew.
It seemed to elicit two distinct responses. Some immediately boarded the lollercoaster; others said they could hardly look at the photo, it made them so sad. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that parents were largely of the first opinion, and folks without kids of the second.
Here’s the funny thing about parenthood. On the one hand, having a child makes you inexplicably start loving all children. The Queen and I were pretty indifferent to the pants-pooping demographic before The Squirrelly was born, wanting to have one of our own only out of a desire for a minion. But now that we’ve up and made a kid, we’re suddenly flirting with infants on the bus and calling redheaded six year-olds “Sport” at the supermarket. When we’re eating in a restaurant and a couple with a baby sits at the next table, we cheerfully wave and make faces at the squirt, instead of bolting our food and fleeing for the exit, vowing never to return, as we would have five years ago.
On the other hand, parenthood tends to make you revel in the small injuries and indignities to which children are subjected (or inadvertently subject themselves). Before, upon observing an inattentive child walk headlong into a fence post, I would gasp in alarm and rush to his aid; now I’ll roar with laughter and take a mental snapshot of the scene, something to chuckle over for months to come. It’s a little bit of rebellion against our masters.
So if there are any childless women reading, bookmark this entry. The next time your period is a few weeks later, you may want to come back and take a gander at the photo above; if you snicker, it’s time to start shopping for bassinets.
“if you find yourself chuckling, it’s time to start shopping for bassinets.”
…Oh, hell.
“On the one hand, having a child makes you inexplicably start loving all children.”
Just wait. You’ll get over it.
Oh dear… I laughed.
So… whose picture is it?
Were you reading Moby Dick to these poor kids?
Good thing I’m not a fan of OPK (other people’s kids), so yeah, I laughed.
“Winnie the Pooh-hoo-hoo!”
I thought it was pretty funny, and I don’t have kids. But maybe that just means I’m cruel.
Can you post the link to the photo? Bookmarks are nice and all, but… I’d like to favorite it at Flickr.
so damn true.
I’m sorry — which one is the whale again?
I have to say I laughed.
F*cking Pooh, the bastard.
Were you reading your posts about your reading of Moby Dick to these kids?
I’m a mom and I ask you, what kind of a sadist would keep taking pics of kids in this much distress?
YOU WILL SMILE, DAMMIT!
Oh, I can so totally relate. We took a picture just like this one of our kids last Christmas and we were REALLY tempted to use it as our Christmas card. Then we realized we would be the only ones who were amused (no one else in the family has kids)…
The background and the fact that they’re not smeared with crusted-over leftovers suggests that this was a professional photo shoot. Since only a maroon would try to sell this shot to the parents, I’m going to guess that the professional put one of his outtakes up on Flickr.
Oh, and: Yes, I laughed. Yes, I’m a parent.
This is some kind of marketing ploy by the Children’s Television Workshop, isn’t it? “Don’t want your kids to look like this Christmas morning? Buy them Tickle Me Elmo T.M.X. instead!”
First: what’s a lollercoaster?
Second: why are they crying?
Third: I don’t like pictures of babies.
Oh man, if you loved that one, you’ll love this gallery. http://tinyurl.com/3nlf3
Snaps 2 and 7 get funnier every year.
It was picture day on my daughter’s very first day of daycare. It was the first time we had left her. She wasn’t bawling in the photo, but you could tell her eyes were red from crying. I can hardly bear to look at that photo, it makes me so sad. Whether we think it is funny or not, her anguish and confusion (why did mommy and daddy leave me?) were real to her.
I already have kids, don’t like kids and don’t want anymore kids. Don’t get the wrong idea…I love my kids more than life itself. I was neither sad nor did I laugh at the picture…I was thinking it was bedtime or maybe they were upset because they didn’t get their way. *shrugs*
um, actually, I don’t have kids and when I look at that picture I just think THANK GOD I USE CONTRACEPTION.
:-)
It reminds me of this.
http://www.paulkopeikingallery.com/artists/greenberg/exhibitions/endtimes/index.htm
Which is despicable. I’m with Matthew that watching certain of America’s Funniest Home videos — or my 4-year-old fall off the couch — is funny, but I’m not there with making kids cry in order to stage photos. Nor do I see the product of that process as funny. A kid crying from fear or confusion radiates fear and confusion, and intentionally causing fear and confusion in a young kid is….well, it’s gross.
rachel: YES. I could not agree more.
the question I have is, who really thinks this is sad? Just cause the kids are crying doesn’t mean they are sad. My guess is they are simply crying cause their parents are making them do something they don’t want to do (hell i’d cry as an adult if my parents forced me to get my picture taken) I just shows the parents didn’t do a really good job exposing the kids to things that they didn’t like to do. That kind of crying really deserves the “shut up or i’ll give you something to cry about”, my parents were experts with that line.
My daughter is 5 and has been afraid of dressed up characters since she was 3ish. We have never pushed her as her fear is okay and she will grow out of it. We have never told her to “shut up or we’ll give you something to cry about” or forced her to have her picture taken with Santa or Chucky Cheese or even Dora when we were at Canada’s Wonderland.
People who force their kids to have pics taken when they are tired, uncomfortable, afraid etc are just….I have to agree with Braine here, it’s gross.
If the reason they’re crying is because they are legitimately afraid or tired etc then this is sad and I hope that whatever occasion prompted the parents to take this photo in the first place turned out as great as this photo.
And no amount of exposing your kids to things they don’t like to do is going to make them stop crying when they’re to tired to be happy, or for that matter make them like it any more. I’m curious to know how far that philosophy should be taken???
You don’t like peas? Sit there and eat them or I’ll give you more and we’ll be having them every night from now on.
You don’t like dressed up characters? Sit on Santa’s lap for an hour or at least till you like it.
You don’t like your picture taken? Quick call Annie Leibowitz to spend the day.
Disgusting. People who think childrens fears and dislikes are a discipline problem? Disgusting.
Oh so true…
sorry to the parents, but this is AWESOME.
you don’t need to have kids or want them either to laugh and enjoy this picture. one word: schadenfreude
As a parent, the humor here is reminding me of all the times I’ve dressed the little kiddies up in special outfits hoping for the perfect Christmas card photo only to end up with something similar to the above. It has nothing to do with laughing over children’s anguish. I think even the suggestion of that is ridiculous.
No, it’s funny because I’ve been there. Paid several hundred dollars and spent several hours of time in hopes of the perfect photo only to end up with two exhausted, red-eyed teary children and a huge photographers bill.
I’ve stood there, behind the photographer, jumping up and down, making funny faces, offering to buy them any toy they’ve ever wanted for just 10 seconds of any expression that even resembles a small semi-smile. Only to get the above. Yep, that’s what’s funny. Not what’s in the photo. What’s happened before, behind and after the camera.
You have nailed it. When I saw this I started laughing. Thanks for showing me another one of the numerous transformations brought about by having a kid.
I’m sorry, but anyone who makes their children pose with Santa, Winnie the Pooh, Dora, or any other of those kinds of charcters is sadistic in my opinion.
But watching kid walk into a fence is COMPLETELY different. I wouldn’t take pictures of that, either, but only because a video camera would do a much better job.
Hee. I’m taking my 6-month-old to see Santy tomorrow. Luckily he’s a good natured fellow; wasn’t even scared when he fell asleep during his baptism and the priest woke him up with a handful of water to the dome. He was a little freaked out for a second, but then woke up and his expression changed to “Man, what the hell was that? You people are weird. I’m going back to sleep.”
Absolutely hysterical. I sent the link to my husband and he asked “Did you laugh?” and when I said “yes” he turned grey . . .
My son tries to be a tough guy but I will not be surprised the day he vomits on me with his head buried in my chest as he tries to avoid eye contact with whatever dressed up cartoon character, school mascot, or clown is within a 50 ft radius. Nevertheless, I laughed at this picture. No one wants to see children in pain but this picture seems to capture the essence of the bad days of being a parent. And if you can’t laugh while recalling one of those days you are in big trouble.
Did someone photoshop the hair?
Kids who cry because they’re tired = Annoying
I could see chuckling at a photo of this, since the child isn’t really suffering. He’s just doing what kids do.
Kids who cry because they’re not getting their way = Seriously Annoying
I would wonder about the parent who ran and got the camera after telling the child he couldn’t have a piece of candy.
Kids who cry because they’re scared or in pain = Sad
Not funny at all. Pain and fear are just as real to a one-year-old as they are to you.
I bet this is a Picture People photo; my child’s first set of pictures taken there (at 10 months) turned out exactly the same as this. Their “studios” are open to one another, separated only by curtains that do not fully reach the floor. The “rooms” are cold and noisy. Add in the strangeness of the experience, the inexperienced teenager behind the camera, the nervous mom and dad, kids stressed to the max and—voila! Tragicomedy on a stick!
Awesome. Thanks for posting this.
This is not a real photo of recently-deceased Steve Irwin as an infant. (He is on the left).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_irwin
being an observer I can tell the difference between the parents that exposed their children to many different situations early and often. you just have to see how relaxed and stress free the parents are. Why? cause the kids are relaxed and stress free. Friends with children invite us to diner or out on the town, we make the decision based on the kids involved, but 90% the time the answer is a big NO to any kid attached family. But to answer dmom, yes most children’s fears and dislikes are a direct discipline problem that if not corrected early lead straight into adulthood. For example my friend is afraid of birds, he is a grown man and sees a sparrow and shrieks like a baby. Where did this come from? Well according to his mother “sometime when he was a kid” why wasn’t this corrected then? Bad parenting. If you think that is wrong replace the word kid with dog and replace the word bird with ball and you would think differently about it but the truth is if your dog is afraid of a ball, it can be corrected.
What if my balls are afraid of the dog?
Its mainly funny because I can feel the parents pain.. and I’m glad it wasnt me!
almost…peed…my….pants….laughing.
the pic and your assessment are precisely right.
bwahahahahahahaha!
I am definitely a childless woman — with no plans for children as of right now — and I was in the lollercoaster camp. This could be because, in my younger sister’s preschool picture, her face looked so sad and dejected that I used to stare at it when I was upset just for the laugh.
Huh. I immediately thought “Wow, what a great picture for complaint threads on the World of Warcraft message boards!”
So that’s probably an “I laughed.”.
You’re right – I’m a parent and I think it’s hilarious… mostly because I can imagine the scene – trying to get the kids to the studio in their nice outfits and onto the platform and trying to get them to stay put while the picture is taken. I can only imagine the struggle and the chaos and hilarity (which is not as funny when I am doing it). LOL!
e.thermal, you may be surprised to learn that people are not dogs. I believe there may even be scientific proof that human development is unlike canine development in many respects.
Just wanted to point that out. Oh, wait, I should also point out that “children” is a subset of “people”–that might not have been obvious to you, either, from the way you talk about them.
I agree with those who say this picture is funny because of the process behind it, imagining the chagrin of the parents who brought these two in with high hopes of getting a lovely photo for the mantelpiece…I won’t say I found it LOL funny, but a snort of recognition, maybe! I also think anyone who kept shooting photos while the children look this miserable was pretty sadistic. It definitely looks like The Picture People to me.
I will never forget hearing my son, two years old, wailing “Bye, berries!” to the plastic container of dried strawberries that he’d just been denied.
Yes, he was sincerely upset.
It was still hilarious to hear him bidding farewell to preserved fruit in EXACTLY the same tone that one might use to say goodbye to a loved one who was being sent off to war.
Let me get this straight: You are marketing your post as pregnancy detector only? Not as a birth-control option. Hmmm…;)
I personally think that the kids are crying because they have really bad hair. I would cry too! And then I would laugh like I am laughing now. If it were my kid? I would buy pictures and send them to all my friends who are trying to have children. And then I would laugh again, like I am laughing now!
I laughed. Hard.
I’m pretty sure my husband is taking off work tomorrow…to get a vasectomy.
I’m a parent and it still made me a bit sad. Probably because I know that somewhere, a mom is freaking because she just wasted all the money on pictures.