I have always been dead against school uniform. It’s a strange, archaic conformity we impose on our children from an extremely young age (too young). But when my eldest started school, it was a welcome solution to the morning dressing drama.
My heart still loathes school uniform. Many schools still chose such sterile tones together with a long list of which colour and style each item should be in. While I am positive school uniform takes the pressure off some families on low incomes vs. having to ensure children have a well-kitted out wardrobe with enough clothes to wear each day, I don’t buy outright that it’s fairer. Some pro-uniform bore will always try to convince you it puts kids on a level socio-economic playing field. But I challenge you to think back to your school days in uniform. It was easy to tell whose parents had money to burn on designer trainers, school bags and fashionable hair cuts. The honest truth is, kids pick up on the smallest of differences - the behaviour is the problem, not the stuff. These days, you could argue some fashion trends, such as leggings and t-shirts, are cheaper than buying school uniform and don’t discriminate by how affluent you are. I believe ripped jeans made a comeback recently? The jury is out for me on cost.
But since having a child at school, I can’t deny the simplicity of wearing uniform. The slow eradication of the delightful ‘I’m not wearing that’ drama first thing in morning is proof enough for me to begrudgingly accept uniform as a good thing.
When both my daughters hit the 3 year old mark they started to get picky about what they wore. Before you think I’m raising a couple of prima donna princesses, it actually has more to do with comfort and colour, rather than having the hippest cartoon character motifs on their outfits. But the drama which came with it needed some focussed proactive parenting indeed! I would kneel on the floor in front of my daughter, debating the merits of wearing warm corduroy trousers over leggings on harsh winter days, and my soul would empty bit by bit into the permanently full laundry basket. I quickly learned how to hide summer garments and reorganised the bedroom, so they could choose their own outfits from drawers I had ‘pre-filled’ with suitable clothes. Socks had to be unbunched, trousers can’t be too high on the waist, polo shirts were out, so was anything black and grey.
So, I hate to even type this sentence but school uniform has provided the ultimate workaround all the drama. Until they hit their teens I’m guessing.
