NAPERVILLE, IL — A routine search for a batteries in the kitchen junk drawer Sunday afternoon led Karen Aldrich, 44, to uncover four consecutive years of her children’s school portrait envelopes, still sealed, still bearing the original order form tucked inside with the sibling package upgrade circled in blue pen.

The portraits, spanning second grade through fifth for her son Tyler and kindergarten through third for her daughter Maisie, were discovered beneath a restaurant loyalty card, two AA batteries of unknown charge, and what appeared to be a coupon for a restaurant that closed in 2022.

“I remember meaning to open those,” said Aldrich, holding a 2021 envelope up to the kitchen light. “I remember it very clearly. I set them right there so I wouldn’t forget.”

“She did set them there,” confirmed Tyler Aldrich, 11, reviewing his second-grade photo with the clinical detachment of a man examining a document from a previous civilization. “That was when I had the haircut.”

Karen’s husband, Doug Aldrich, 46, declined to comment on the grounds that he had also known the photos were there and had similarly done nothing about it. The children, for their part, appeared unbothered, each identifying their younger selves with mild academic interest before returning to their respective screens.

The Aldriches have ordered school photos every year since Tyler started kindergarten. A total of eleven envelopes are believed to be somewhere in the house.

At press time, Karen had located a padded mailer, addressed it to both sets of grandparents, and set it on the counter so she wouldn’t forget.