Atlantic Canada — Maritimers on social media today are decrying a distinct shortage of back-to-school photos of other people’s children.
“I just feel like I didn’t see enough,” said single receptionist Elizabeth Eagen, 29, of Saint John. “Maybe some people are holding off posting them till later today, or tomorrow? I’m dying to know what outfits the kids of people I barely know wore to Grade 1 today. The excitement is pretty extra.”
Matt Wilbur, 34, of Halifax said that he scrolled through Facebook this morning before work and saw roughly 50 photos of unfamiliar children wearing backpacks and looking proudly at the camera.
“But 50 is not that many, really. I’m still waiting on the back-to-school shots from people I went to high school with and then forgot about because I didn’t even like them at the time. What’s little Jax or Brayden or Aliyah going to wear to day one of Grade 4?!? The suspense is literally killing me!”
Wilbur said he checked Instagram but many parents had posted only one photo — or worse: no photo at all.
“What the…” he said, looking down at his phone. “What about the classic ‘lunchbox in hand’ photos? Not seeing many of them. All you parents are slacking this year!”
Rachel-Anne Zimmer, 32, of Charlottetown said she set her alarm a little early this morning — after spending much of Labour Day drinking and having fun with her many childless friends — just so she could squeeze a little joy out of perusing pictures of acquaintances’ ugly kids.
“Well they’re not ugly, exactly, but they’re often quite funny-looking, and usually I’ve never even seen the kid in real life,” she said. “And the parents are soooo proud. It’s entertainment, for sure. And it makes me feel like I never have to have kids of my own. I get the whole experience of it right here on Facebook.”
Zimmer said she remembers her parents taking a picture — precisely one picture — of her and her siblings on the morning of the first day of school each year.
“Those pictures ended up in a physical photo album, and no one ever saw them again…talk about life in the dark ages! Quite a shame Mom and Dad didn’t have a platform where they could show their children off to 700 near-strangers.”