When Brooke Hamilton sent her daughter, Zuri, and son, West, to school for picture day, she expected the usual lineup of sweet, smiling portraits – the kind that end up framed on a mantel or tucked into a grandparent’s wallet.
But when the final photos made their way home, the 35-year-old mother was equal parts shocked and amused by her daughter’s chosen pose.
“I instantly started laughing,” Hamilton tells PEOPLE exclusively. “The photos brought me so much joy!”
Although her 10-year-old daughter is known for her signature pose – one hand on her hip, the other flashing a peace sign, tongue out and a playful wink to top it off – Hamilton never expected to see it featured in a school photo.
According to the mother of two, the fifth grader had asked the photographer if she could “try one of her own poses,” and he had let it slide.
“She is always posing in photos and in videos at home,” Hamilton reveals. “This is her ‘go-to,’ making the photo a perfect representation of her.”
In previous years, Zuri and West’s school photos felt more posed and serious, with expressions that seemed “uncomfortable.”
This time, though, the pictures captured her kids’ true personalities — the kind they’ll look back on and fondly remember.
“Zuri is always full of drama and spunk,” she says, adding that her 8-year-old son