Funny before and after first day of school pictures go viral

This time of year, it’s commonplace for your social media feeds to be filled with proud parents sharing photos of their little ones headed off to the first day of school.

Donning backpacks and wearing new clothes, most smiling kids appear happy and excited to conquer the new school year. The key is that these pictures are typically taken before the kids have endured the sometimes-harrowing experience that is the first day of school.

First Day Of School Pictures Are A Big Deal

The “first day of school” picture is such a big thing these days that there are countless Pinterest boards dedicated to the concept.

Some families photograph their kids wearing the same shirt year after year to show how much they’ve grown. Others pose their cuties with chalkboards that list the date and the grade they’re entering.

One mom, Kelly O’Bryan, took a sweet shot of her 5-year-old daughter, Franky Meyer, who was headed to her very first day of preschool last year. As you can see in the photo below, Franky looks super-cute in a tutu-esque skirt, perfectly curled tresses and a stylish jean jacket.

Her expression says, “Preschool, here I come!”

When O’Bryan got a second snap of her daughter exiting the bus after a long first day at school, Franky looked altogether different. Her polished hairstyle has come undone, and her face bears the look of someone who’s had better days.

I can totally relate to little Franky. As a kid, I also had a tough time adjusting to preschool. In fact, my family teased that I was a “preschool dropout” because it took me a few tries before I made it through the day without begging the teachers to call my mom to pick me up!

Franky’s mom shared the funny before-and-after photoshoot on Reddit, and people found the photos both hilarious and adorable.

“Lol, aww. Those eyes though. She looks like a WWI soldier exiting the trenches,” read one comment.

“She is adorable. Mine started pre-k this year and though she came off the bus battle-worn and ready for nap time, she couldn’t wait to go back. Adorable little troopers,” wrote another.

O’Bryan chimed in to let everyone now that despite her weary look, Franky ended up enjoying preschool.

“She actually loves school, and was really happy that day when she got off the bus, but the picture was taken at the perfect moment and really made her look like she had been to hell and back,” wrote O’Bryan.

Another Funny Before-And-After Picture Making The Rounds

One little 5-year-old from Louisiana managed to make it through her first day of school. The cute hairstyle she left home with, however, did not.

Her mom may have had one idea of what the first day of kindergarten would be like for her little girl, but her daughter had another. She didn’t hesitate to redo her hair when it started to bother her during the school day.

“I had my daughter’s hair done Sunday evening for school that week,” the girl’s mother, Markeisha Simien, told Yahoo Beauty. “When she got out of school Monday evening, her hair was tore up. The style didn’t even last 24 hours.”

The post went viral because apparently—tons of parents can relate to this hairstyle disaster.

These kids’ pictures are so cute I hope other parents jump on this trend of not only capturing their kids before the first day of school but also after.

There have to be some other exhausted yet triumphant faces out there just waiting to be memorialized on social media, right? Come on, parents. What say you?