To think parents should at least iron uniforms

My mum had bugger all growing up and made a point of ironing our uniforms every day.

I am in a much better position than she was and don't bother.

The difference is not pride, its that my mum had something to prove and I don't.

I love my mum dearly, she did the best she could. But she didn't force homework, attend parents evening in secondary school or talk about life after school - I was just expected to get a minimum wage job.

Mydaughter does homework, extra learning, clubs consistently, has a reading level well above her age because we've embedded reading and library visits, we, as a couple, go to almost every school thing going, we volunteer, we are very present. We talk all the time about growing up and her life, her friends, her ambitions, we build her confidence at every opportunity. We make time for family and fun. She has so much self -belief that I never had because in secondary I needed to be self-reliant.

She's fed healthy food made from scratch every day, barring the loaf of bread, yoghurt and cereal.

So no, I don't think my daughter having a pressed uniform is important in the scheme of things. I can't do everything and that's something I let slide.

There's always one 😆

No way! I love this 😊

FWIW my grandparents were Eastern European and had similar standards even though they came from extremely poor backgrounds.

I just think these days that people spend so much time running around with school, sports clubs, playdates, dance / swimming lessons etc etc.... We've made life ridiculously busy for ourselves so other things end up getting sacrificed.

The other example is home-cooking... My grandparents would never have HEARD of a ready / freezer meal / getting a takeaway / going out for tea! Everything was homecooked every single day. We often end up just throwing some pasta in a pan with some tomato sauce and cheese or chucking a pizza in the oven just for something quick to eat.

My Grandma would be turning in her grave!

Don't you find they don't hold your coffee so well when you've made them smooth and flat?

I don't even own an iron.
I have 4 children in school and they get clean, fresh uniform every day. I wash daily, anything from 1 to 4 loads a day (4 being if I'm changing the beds). There is no way on earth I'm ironing uniform. They always look clean and presentable - the same can't be said for me on the school run, however, but I don't care.

Must admit, I do cringe when I see kids wearing grey off white polo shirts because they've been thrown in with the darks - and if their clothes smell "fusty" like they haven't been dried properly - there's a lot of that at my children's school.

I don't need to iron in order for my children to look more than presentable, thank you very much: school often feeds back how smart they look.
But, whatever; you do you and don't worry overly about the purportedly unkempt appearance of others' children.

Nope they used an old piece of wood on the floor and covered it with a sheet to iron clothes- btw the iron wasn't our electric irons but a cast iron one that needed to be heated up in the fire they used for cooking

Heysummerwhereareyou
Oh I don't judge. I don't know anyone who irons like me. I am amazed though at the amount of people who don't iron at all. I thought most people chucked an iron over stuff but hey ho.

Ironing is for mugs.

Each to their own. But judging other people is a bit shitty I think. (As the OP is doing.)

Sunqueen24
I do a wash every single day (except Christmas Day). There is always ironing to be done. I even iron tea towels. I don't iron socks though. Not sure why 🤷🏻‍♀️

Half an hour a day is 30 minutes a week.

I’ll admit my cleaner does my ironing, but only tops, DH’s work shirts and DS’ school polos. The school trousers and jumpers really don’t need ironing.

No way on earth you’d catch me ironing underwear. I do a load of washing a day.

There are certainly some odd ones in this scenario but the it definitely not you, OP!

No, I think yours is judging.

Heysummerwhereareyou
Nope, not joking. Bloody love ironing. I've got two irons in case one packs up 😂

OP's posts on there indicate she has young children.

*@RuggedHairyTortoise I agree, I think it's very smart. I was actually a bit disappointed in how informal my dd's school is in relation to uniform.!

I enjoy it. I switch off and put something on the tv and will happily iron. And I love getting into a bed that's freshly ironed and seeing my family go off for their day looking today byes my kids return looking like they've been dragged through a hedge but tomorrow they will look fresh again. And in all the drawers there is neatness so I can always find what I'm looking for. It's the gift that keeps on giving 😉

@ithinkilikethislittlelife · Today 09:25

Bloody Nora. I am absolutely staggered at the amount of you who don't iron. I iron everything. Clothes, bedding, underwear. It's takes no time. Half an hour a day tops. The thought of putting my kids/dh/myself into creased clothes.... gross.

😂 PLEASE say you're joking!

100% this. ^ I think the majority of adults who are Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have better things to do with their life than sit in the window, staring at the children walking to school. Then judging how they look (and how crap their mothers are - because let's face it, this is not an attack on fathers is it, as it's the women who are expected to do the grunt work,) and then posting a thread on Mumsnet about it!

To be fair, you’re not in charge, OP.
You can judge people you’re interviewing for a 6-figure job at Canary Wharf by their ironing standards if that’s your job and you like , but it’s not your job to judge school kids or their parents.
There’s a slight difference in expectations here, and it’s the Head Teacher’s decision whether to pursue education first, or to rush in where angels fear to tread on presentation…

Meant to quote this post

A lot of people at the school gates at our school are grandparents as parents are working and easily boomer age.

My nana however use to sit at the bedroom window watch all the kids walk to school along our road and comment on it while pointing out her kids where always perfectly presented and listing off how kids 'should' look. She also hate boys with 'longer hair' as she termed it 'girly' and 'scruffy' etc...

OP said she 'sees' kids going to school and she couldn't imagine doing that with her kids (same as my nana ranted) she never said she was dropping her own primary aged kids at school gates.

She may well be my age or younger though and have inherited outdated views from older generations (the things we latch onto from parents/grandparents can be odd) which is possible but I wouldn't say its anywhere near the 'norm' for younger generations.

That's 3.5 hours a week though. If your iron for 30 minutes every day until old age that's an entire year of your life spent ironing!
Surely there are more enjoyable things you'd rather be doing?

Personally I have limited time and choose different priorities, each to their own. The younger kids have uniform that doesn't need ironing and the teens know they need to hang stuff immediately to avoid creases...if they don't, c'est la vie 🤷‍♀️

There are so many injustices in the world worth getting angry about, to me this is just a stealth 'aren't I a great person' thread, I hope you get the validation you seem to need