Bitter, Party Of Two
I am absolutely aware that the words I'm about to write are Crazy Talk, but hear me out.
I hate school uniforms.
I know. I KNOW. I am very likely the only parent in all of history to be all WAAAAH! about their kid having to wear uniforms to school, but I am very much so WAAAAAH! about it. While Alexis is fortunate that her dress code isn't the worst ever, the fact that she's stuck with polo shirts and khaki or navy pants pants and skirts pretty much breaks my heart.
I used to battle with Mini Alexis over what she would wear each morning. She was a HUGE fan of dresses starting the moment she realized that there were these things called "clothes," so she wanted to wear a dress every single day. Sometimes I just wasn't feeling the four pairs of tights, long johns, and a snowsuit thing when it was really cold, though, so I would battle with her to get her to wear pants.
Eventually, though, she grew big enough for me to let her make a fashion mistake from time-to-time without risking frostbite. She quickly learned that when I said it was too cold for a sleeveless dress, it truly was too cold for a sleeveless dress. Once we had that vital fashion rule out of the way, it was smooth sailing.
Since then, the kid has picked out all of her own clothing at the store. I, of course, have veto power, but she rarely asks for anything that I would deem inappropriate anyway. And if she does? Woooo! I have the power of NOOOOOO!
(An aside about the JCPenney kerfluffle with that t-shirt . . . why was that such a big deal? Isn't it simpler to just be all "I am not buying that" than it is to drum up drama? I mean, I see stuff all the time that I think is hugely inappropriate for Alexis but that comes in her size I'M LOOKING AT YOU, YOU STUPID JUSTIN BIEBER T-SHIRTS AND AT YOU, YOU STUPID JUICY COUTURE EVERYTHING. Annnd . . . rant over.)
She is then responsible for picking out what she is going to wear every day. It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but it has definitely been just dandy for a long time now. She dresses herself and I don't even pay attention to what she wears. Life. Good.
But now we're back to battling over clothes because if there is one person who hates school uniforms more than me, it's the short person who lives in my house. Alexis hates school uniforms with the fire of 10,000,000,000,000 suns. Wait, make that 10,000,000,000,001 suns. It doesn't matter that she can wear skirts every day if she wants to or that she can have as many pink shirts as she wants, she's bitter. VERY bitter.
We were standing in Kohls one day and I said something to Mr. Husband about the fact that the uniforms they sell there are definitely not my favorites. I wasn't trying to buy any (obviously) and barely paused to look at them, but HOOOBOY did the drama break out. Alexis crossed her little arms across her chest, stuck her chin out as she scowled, and gave me the dirtiest look she could muster.
I asked the little grump what was wrong. She wouldn't answer. She just glared and then stomped away, clearly pissed off.
Later she finally explained that she was mad we were talking about uniforms. Apparently not only does she hate wearing them, even discussing them is grounds for being disowned.
I already hated fighting with the kid about something as insignificant as what she wears, but when I share in her hatred for her clothing? Then life really is annoying.
BRING ON THE BIEBER T-SHIRT!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Reader Comments (15)
I will never understand the parental love for uniforms. I wore them for years in Catholic school and it did nothing, NOTHING I SAY, to "even the playing field" as far as fashion was concerned. Girls find ways to pick on kids and if it wasn't the skirt, it was the hair or the shoes or the accessories. I hated unis because they were uncomfortable to wear (back in my day they were polyester for the long-wearing-abilities of that most heinous of fabrics and it was possible to get a rash from them if you sweated too much.) and ugly to boot. It was never easier to wear uniforms - it was just more boring.
Oh man.
Uniforms are currently one of my favorite things on the planet but then I only have one BOY in a school that has to wear them. Gonna be interesting with K someday, I'm sure... She already has a MAJOR opinion on what shoes she wears!
So glad we aren't in the school district with the khaki/navy uniforms. When she is 14 and we are battling over short skirts I might change my tune but I don't like the idea of uniforms.
My brother has to wear a uniform of a white top and navy pants with a tie (!!!) every day to school. It's ridiculous. He's in the 5th grade. A tie? Really? And heaven forbid they actually make 100% cotton navy pants. Everything is poly-blend junk. *grumble grumble*
I've not had to deal with uniforms, but I share your feelings of them. I could see how easy it would be to dress the kids in the morning, but the loathing of them by all concerned would far outweigh that single tiny benefit. You have my full sympathy.
i 100% agree with the first comment. uniforms just high light other features & kids then pick on those. i think the only positive about uniforms was it taught me to express myself in other ways (crazy hairstyles & hair accessories). at least it sounds like she has some options to different colors & clothing. we only got to wear green plaid jumpers & white dress shirts (pants only in the winter) - until like 4th grade then you got to upgrade to skirts. when it comes to uniforms i think the best advice is work with what you have -you can still express yourself, you just have to be a bit more creative
There are days that I am kinda, sorta, maybe wishing my kid had to wear a uniform. Only because we had the battle of "I NEED to have these $100.00 shoes for school because everyone else does and I will be made fun of if I do not get to have them." But in reality, I love that Dominic can wear what he wants (I too have veto power) and that he picks out what he wants. I do buy him stuff online that I know he will wear. I have made the mistake of buying something that I like and he doesn't. I was told by a 7 year old at the time "Mom you have no fashion sense what so ever." Yeah, my kid is a BOY! I am totally going to have my hands full when Charlotte is old enough to pick her own clothes. I really do not remember life this tough when I was their age ;)
I completely understand. My son is in fourth grade this year and has always worn uniforms. And I have always been pro-uniforms. Every year, grab five pairs each of khaki/navy pants and shorts, five or six polos and we were done. He was happy, I was happy, move on to other things. This year, now that my daughter started kindergarten, I'm starting to change my tune. The difference - my son doesn't even notice what he's wearing most days, let alone have an opinion about his clothing. My daughter, on the other hand, most definitely does. And even with the many, many choices for girls at the elementary level (we have navy/khaki skirts, skorts, jumpers, along with shirts in every color of the rainbow), she just doesn't look like herself to me when we leave the house in the morning.
As someone who has very little fashion sense, I embrace the uniform. I am so not hip to even know what 8 year olds deem cool (though apparently most of them shop at a store called Justice, which I have never been to).
I realize polyester is not great, but there is also little ironing involved. You put the jumper or poly skort in the drier, take it out, hang it up, and you are good to go. I have even left the indestructible jumper in the drier overnight, and it was wrinkle-free the next day. Win!
Now if only I could get my kid to stop staining her white polos and gym tees. Unfortunately, Tide Stain Release often refuses to release the stinkin' stains.
We went through that this summer because Bear went to a camp that was field trips 4 days/week. On field trip days he had to wear the camp shirt. Which was turquoise. Not a very manly color. Also, it had no pictures or anything "kid-like" on it, it simply had the name and phone number of the camp. So, my boy had to look like a walking billboard for this camp and he fought me on that shirt almost every.single.day.
I feel you.
I hate uniforms. A few years back, our school was talking about it and I was praying they wouldn't (they didn't). Not really for the fighting over clothes (although - hoo boy - there would be), but because when it comes to certain things, I absolutely hate conformity. Every year when we get the student handbooks from the schools & I read the dress code, I get all riled up. I understand no one should be wearing clothes are are suggestive or promote any sort of violence or bigotry, etc, but so many of those rules are the absolute death of self-expression. If my kids want to have purple hair (or whatever else nonsense that is banned), then why can't they? We are not all alike and we really need to stop pretending we are. Focus on how we are all the same INSIDE, not outside.
And don't even get me started on how last year - the last week of school, no less - they were sending kids home from school because they had holes in their jeans. And I don't mean asshole kids or crotch holes. I mean well-behaved, straight A students with tiny holes in the knees or lower that they paid a shit ton of money for. Maybe if they put that kind of effort into dealing with REAL problems like bullying, etc (instead of just the bullshit lip-service that they do), the schools would be better all around.
And here I thought school uniforms made life easier. Maybe when it gets colder she could wear her Bieber tee under her uniform shirt.
I like uniforms from afar. But on kids that I know, i want them to dress however they like.
At least Alexis gets to wear pink. I can see both sides of the uniform issue; I am still getting used to how Juliana looks in her uniforms because it is not how she would typically dress. For us it is working pretty well so far. The small set of options leaves little room for argument and I let her make decisions on what shoes she will wear. Most of the kids wear tennis shoes because they are permitted with everything. She won't since they are not pretty with dresses and skirts. Uniforms have made getting ready in the morning easier. For the amount of clothes she is used to having in her closet, I am surprised that she has adapted so well.
My daughter is soon to be 18 in 2 months but she went to Catholic school for Kindergarden & 1st grade and had to wear uniforms. Yellow, white, or blue polo shirts and khakis or skirts. She hated the uniforms too. I thought I had something wrong with my dryer as I noticed her shirts kept getting holes in them, After a week of me trying to figure out why her shirts had holes, her teacher advised me they had to take the scissors away from her because she kept cutting her shirts... Yeah, real nice. Needless to say we had a long talk about that. She won't wear polo shirts to this day.