Sometimes I have opportunities as a blogger where companies ask me to write on a certain topic. I love that because it’s nice to have fresh writing prompts and be creative and also get paid because holycrapthisbabyisexpensive. I’m working on a piece about growing older and wanted to include a picture of my great-grandparents so I dug out an old box full of family photos
I like to call that box “PANDORA’S BOX” because it contains pictures from my childhood and opening it makes for much weeping and gnashing of teeth. That’s why we keep it stored out of sight, because the camera? IT DID NOT LOVE ME. And judging from these photos, neither did my parents.
You’re like “Oh KA, it can’t be THAT bad” but you just wait until you scroll down. I sent this picture to my father and he texted me back “I am so sorry.” But I’m pretty sure he still owes me a pony to make up for the trauma that occured from sending me off to school looking like this every day.
I was trying to scan in a bunch of terrible pictures of myself in my younger days because with age comes wisdom and the ability to find these photos hilarious in addition to being completely horrifying. And also because sometimes 15 year old girls read my blog and email me for advice and to those girls I would like to say A) You’ll meet another boy and not be heartbroken forever, I swear and B) you really will grow into your nose. Although you might never fully grow into your front teeth…
Scarlette kept pressing buttons on the scanner and now it won’t scan anything at all but honestly? You don’t even need to see all the other pictures. You just need to see this one and that will tell you everything you ever needed to know about why I faked sick on dodgeball days in gym class and also why no one ever kissed me until I was 16.
Kayla Aimee circa 1990
You. Are. Welcome.
About Kayla Aimee
No, I think we need to see more!
I love your shirt though. Did you pass it on to S? Because definitely do that.
this comment made me snort water up my nose!
Oh girl.
I just love you for sharing that. And for a hundred other reasons.
You can be the poster child for the “It Gets Better” campaign. Give teenagers everywhere a glimmer of hope!
I need to know how old you were in this picture.
Also. I have a picture of me, circa 1990, looking quite similar, except I was wearing a blazer and a lovely neck scarf. I looked like I was about 30. I was 11.
Nobody kissed me till I was 17, and nobody good kissed me till I was 20.
Also. You should share more pictures.
And I just think this comment needed one more ridiculously short sentence-paragraph.
Um, like 7? OH MY GOSH I totally have one where I am wearing a neck scarf and a blazer. I will find it. It’s a teal green blazer. And my hair is cut above my ears. Amazing.
OMG I almost laughed out loud at work, so funny. We all have pictures like those.
The good thing? I think we all looked like that. The bad thing? I think we all looked like that.
I SO can beat that photo! And I will, as soon as work is over and I dig it out of the black hole I call home… I would have seriously given you money, real greenbacks, for your hair. If mine was any flatter and straighter… Oh, and let’s not forget the glasses as thick as Coke bottles, not lovely THIN WIRE frames like yours….
I’ll be back to this post with a link as soon as I find that picture, because I swear, I CAN TOP YOURS!
WOW. I will admit that your picture makes me feel much better about mine from that time period.
Oh my gosh, I just shot yogurt up my nose at work! That picture is priceless! I have a similar one from my days as a band geek. I bust it out once in a while to remind my husband of how lucky he is that we met AFTER I graduated high school! I think your loyal readers deserve to see the rest of them!
Yes, Jeff and I went to Elementary, Middle and High School together but he didn’t ask me out until college. I think that pictures shows the reason for that
Think about it this way – maybe it just took him that many years to work up the courage.
Well, you certainy grew into yourself didn’t you! Do you secretly love it that you’re pretty? I was, to put it kindly, a homely child. Now, I consider myself “passably pretty”. At 35 I still walk by mirrors sometimes and think, wow I can’t believe that pretty girl is me!
This is like, the nicest comment ever
Thanks! Honestly I have cute days but I think I looked like that way too long for me to ever think of myself as pretty!
I am one of the 15 year old girls…love the blog and Scarlette. And the picture too
You should totally send this photo into Ellen for her Bad Photos segment
I totally just hit submit. lol! Thanks for the tips!
I cannot handle this.
I think my best friend had the same haircut. I didn’t because I like hardly ever cut my hair and styled it in a braid every day until like 8th grade (ok, college). People started calling me ms. braid – if that makes you feel any better. Plus, you have killer amazing hair today.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that’s awesome. I have some like this too, although I don’t think I was ever able to get my hair THAT big. And also? You did realize that it was the 90′s and the 80′s were long gone right? <3
Oh my God. Hello, me! I had those same huge glasses, that my parents chose, and terrible, terrible haircuts that didn’t suit me or my hair. And clothes that my stepmother chose.
Now I’ve discovered those lenses that you can wear for a month and not take out (sleep in them, and everything – fantastic, next best thing to laser surgery which I’m too squeamish to even consider) and mostly people don’t even know I wear glasses anymore. Glasses are not a bad thing if you can get them to suit your face, but they just do not suit me, not even the sleek slim modern ones or those rimless ones that are supposed to be basically invisible.
The 90′s were fashionably cruel to us all. Lisa Bonet was my fashion icon at that time. Need I say more.
Man, I have photos just like that…and now I am also so glad that I went to Catholic school and had to wear a uniform…because before I went there, I had worse outfits then that. What were the fashion designers thinking in the late 80s, early 90s????
Shut up. You did not. OHMYGAWD-YOUDID. I need a moment … okay I’m better now. No wait. Now your peeps are doing it too. Sans photos, the little chickens. Ya, I’m not showin’ any of y’all my pictures from before at least 9th or 10th grade and that’s iffy at best. Also? Thank. You.
Two (three) things, you brave and previously tortured lady:
1. I wonder how many cans of Aqua Net lost their lives to give that lovely lift?
2. You look like the cutest little Sally Jesse Raphael – with blue rimmed glasses – impersonator – EVER!
3. I totally adore you even more now for doing this, you ROCK!
I remember my horrid photos, and hope and pray I save my little lady from hiding too many photos some day.
I’m old enough to be your mother and I still laughed. Man, I hated those humongo classes. They really were that obnoxious, weren’t they?
this.is.awesome. I have some photos like that somewhere, too. I remember wearing this hideous plaid blazer to school in 6th grade, and thinking I looked SO cool. I begged my mom to buy it for me to wear to my first junior high pep rally. I know. I know. I should totally write a blog post about this.
Did you also wear white thigh highs with chunky heeled mary janes? Because that’s what my whole sixth grade year looked like
oh mercy. you had to go and bring up the high heeled mary-janes.