No parent knows what they're going to get when they open up their kid’s school pictures. Even if they’ve practiced their smile a million times that morning, something could (and let’s face it, probably will) go awry.
But more often than not, these bouts of chaos make for a delightfully entertainment parenting monet.
Just take Vially Dorestant’s word for it.
In a clip posted to her Instagram, Dorestant is seen trying to prep her son Corey for his big picture day happening at preschool the following week.
“Are you gonna smile?” she prompts. Corey replies, “yes!” He even shows off an adorable grin.
Dorestant tries to confirm, “That’s how you’re gonna smile?” Corey, with the same smile, says “yes!”
Because of the magic rule of threes, mom really tries to clench the deal by asking a third time, saying “when they say ‘cheese’ what are you gonna do?”
Corey demonstrates an impressive “cheeeeeese” with a classic tooth-showing smile. So of course Dorestant can feel safe knowing that that’s exactly how he’s gonna do it for picture day.
Spoiler alert: that is NOT how he did it for picture day. But arguably…he did something way better.
Watch:
Um, okay. The pure, unadulterated swagger of this kid. Eyes squinted, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his chin, posed more like he’s coming out with a new hip-hop album than a school portrait. So cool, and so unexpected.
“Nothing could’ve prepared me for the ending 😂😂,” one viewer wrote
Another surmised that “Dad must have gave him a different prep talk 😂😂”
There are even more fun comments where that came from:
“Corey at home: 😁Corey at school: 😏”
“Let him cook”
“Lied straight to your face 🤣”
“These baddies at the playground need to know.”
“Definitely make this a poster size for his graduation party lol!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣”
“He made a business decision 😂”
“Hand in the pocket too, come on man, this the hardest elementary pic of the year 🔥🔥”
“🙌🏾 My boy understood the assignment! 😎🤣❤️🔥”
The greatest part of this story is that Dorestant mainly wanted to practice Corey’s smiling with nhim because she was concerned he would be shy on the day.
“He tends to get shy and freeze up around others,” she told Newsweek. “Since this was his first picture day at a new school, I wanted to ensure he felt comfortable and confident.”
But Corey’s amazing bait and switch became a heart warming lesson.
"As parents, we often feel the need to shield our kids and prepare them for the world, which can make us anxious about their readiness, but we need to trust in their abilities and give them the space to shine on their own.”
Indeed, kids can teach us things too.
