It’s back to school time around here. Endless supply lists, new school shoes for everyone, the hunt for the perfect backpacks, haircuts, etc. It is 2 weeks of running in circles and forgetting things. It’s such a joyful time. My children will be going into third and MIDDLE SCHOOL. (I feel lightheaded now. Hold me.) There is one thing that I don’t mind buying because it makes mornings so much easier: school uniforms. I haven’t always liked them, though.
I am a child of the 80’s/90’s. Uniforms were for private school kids. Us public school kids were free to express ourselves in whatever outfit we could talk our mothers into spending money on. Although, looking back, we mainly just embarrassed ourselves and wearing uniforms would have done us all a favor.
Before I had school-aged kids, I looked at uniforms as a form of control from schools. They were not cute, didn’t leave any room for individualizing, and felt constraining. But again, this is before I had kids in school and I wasn’t able to see the absolute awesome that uniforms were.
COST
The cost of uniforms can’t be beat. 5 pairs of shorts or skirts and 5 shirts for each kid. DONE. Add some new socks, underwear and shoes and our uniform shopping is complete. Most big stores (Target, J. Crew, Old Navy, etc.) offer a ton of options for ordering online so you really don’t even have to leave your house. I understand that private schools might not get this option but in comparison of having to search and buy different types of clothes, the cost of buying a few pieces that you just wash and wear is perfect to me.
NO FIGHTS
No fights from my son on what to wear. Polo and shorts. My daughter, however, might give me some kick-back on what leggings she wants to wear under her skirt or that she hates all of her socks all of a sudden but overall, even she can’t complain too much. Everyone knows what to wear and it makes our mornings less stressful. Now if I could only figure how to get them to not forget to give me important notes from school…
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
One of the things that I love most about uniforms is that they cut down on the bullying among students regarding clothing. I was picked on a ton when I was in school because the things that I wore weren’t always “cool enough” by elementary standards. Individuality isn’t always looked at in a positive way with kids, and they aren’t able to take into consideration the financial strain that expensive outfits put on a family. Uniforms might take away using clothing as an expression of uniqueness but they do help out those who aren’t able to wear things that do not have access to.
While school uniforms can be boring, they do serve a few important purposes. I will gladly put my kids in a uniform any day of the week. The amount of stress and headache that I am saved from week day after week day is something I am so thankful for.
