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See why one mom's school photo fail is going viral

If 2020 was a school photo...

One woman’s self-described “mom fail” is making people smile at the way she accidentally summed up 2020 in a single phrase: “I DON’T WANT THIS.”

Brittany Kinley and her son Mason, a kindergartener in Mansfield, Texas, were craving normalcy and routine.

They were both thrilled that Mason would attend school in-person this year. Among his many kindergarten milestones would be school photos, a cherished tradition for many young children and their families.

When Kinley filled out the forms for school photos, there was an option for parents to have their child’s name printed on the pictures. Kinley wasn’t interested: She wanted the photos to be of just Mason, without any engraving. The form wouldn’t let her leave that section of the form blank, so she wrote: I DON’T WANT THIS.

The result? Kinley received 30 copies of Mason’s adorable school photo with the words “I DON’T WANT THIS” printed at the bottom of each one, in all caps.

Oops.

Kinley posted the image on her Facebook page, along with the hashtags #idowantthis and #if2020wasaschoolphoto. Mason’s 2020 school photo has since been shared through social media more than 28,000 times.

School celebrity

According to Kinley, Mason feels “famous” now.

“He’ll occasionally ask how many more people is he making laugh,” Kinley said, adding “his teachers gave him a round of applause and yelled, ‘I do want this!’ during drop off!’”

“I think 2020 has been such a hard year for everyone and people need some positivity and a good laugh,” Kinley said.

“I’ve gotten so many messages from people saying they haven’t laughed this hard all year and that it made their day. I never thought it would have that effect but I’m so glad we can spread laughter in a crazy time like this.”

In an effort to have the photos reprinted without the words, Kinley tried to contact the photography company, but “hasn’t had any luck yet,” she said.

“It’s not their fault. It was my mom fail,” laughs Kinley, founder of Bees Knees Custom Design, “so no bad feelings there!”

Read more: These are the 30 funniest parents on social media this week