6 a.m.

A girl’s alarm clock sounds and she rolls over in bed

Lights on

Across the hall

Her brother is still asleep

It’s dark outside

She turns on the light in the bathroom and splashes water on her face

Will her hair curl?

Why are her eyes so red?

Is that a pimple popping up?

Mom has laid out a simple black dress

Too plain

A striped dress

No

“What about pants?” Mom asks 

“Not pants,” the girl says

“A lovely mauve top?” Mom suggests

“Get out!” the girl says. “You’re not helping.”

Was picture day always this stressful? the mom wonders

Her school pictures were always so disappointing

And that was before everyone had distorted images 

created by filters and special effects

Before parents had the option of selecting “basic facial retouching”

It was just that she didn’t think her crooked tooth was much of a big deal

Until she saw it in a photograph

And learned to stop smiling

So the mom takes picture day seriously

And the girl changes her outfit a few times

Before settling on a maroon corduroy skirt

With a flannel shirt

Amazing, the mom thinks.

Even in the 90s,

She never looked good in flannel

It makes her look like a truck driver

And the mom doesn’t want to look like a truck driver

Meanwhile, it is 7:05 a.m., and the boy is still asleep

He’ll get up in a few minutes

It’s OK if his hair is messy

It will look like he didn’t try too hard

Because he didn’t

He’ll put on pants and a shirt

He was told last night

He had to wear a button-down.