To think parents should at least iron uniforms

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.

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.

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

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!

There's always one 😆

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.

Yes they do, even in villages they even use the bottoms of pans that they have boiled water in to iron clothes

Yeah there's a lot of creativity- even in Pakistan now if the electricity goes (which it does for a few hours every day) people will boil water on their gas stoves and use the bottom of the pan to iron clothes if they're going out

I do think people add lots of unnecessary stress with all these classes and playdates. My siblings and I went to after school clubs like football squad, swimming, Spanish etc but after 16.30 it was time for us to spend together as a family- going to the park, cycling, reading or painting at home

I am a big believer in home cooking and have a roster of recipes that I can make quickly- it also helps that homemade curries can be eaten for a few days and often taste nice the older they are!

Oh I completely agree with you! I have some friends who literally run round after their children from first thing in the morning to last thing at night and then again on weekends!

When our parents and grandparents were small they would go to school and go home (maybe go and play out with friends) but that was it! There was no after school clubs, no lessons, no mid-week having friends over, going here there and everywhere....

If they're using the bottoms of pans to iron clothes, it's safe to assume they don't have modern washing machines and detergent that cut down dramatically, the need to iron clothes.

I've ironed two things this year because they were both heavily creased, but nothing else I wash and dry needs it.

Iron cardigans? Is that even a thing? I mean, it obviously IS, because people are doing it, but don't you have to have the iron on really really low, so the knit doesn't scorch (or melt)?

The only thing I ironed was the reverse of the badges on polos and jumpers, because they were annoying if they weren't flat. Shirts and trousers just got put on hangers and the creases fell out.

It's often because electricity is gone for a few hours every day so they then use gas, natural wood etc. They do often wash by hand in buckets but they still iron their clothes

Exactly, so the clothes very probably need ironing.

When my washing machine broke down and I hand washed the clothes, every single one of them looked like crumpled tissue paper.

Whereas when I got my new machine, I just took them out, shook them, hung them on the line and there wasn't a crease to be seen.

Yes, and children from very impoverished families are often struggling with washing, hot water, etc.

You definitely are judging though 😂

I don't even own an iron, my poor daughter, can't imagine the trauma she must go through every day.

Oh god, you're sounding more like a dick with every post 🤣

People also comment on how good
my children smell. The nursery workers said they used to love sitting next to my son as he always smelt so good.

This is kinda weird 🫠

OK, but just because you've got an ironing fetish, it doesn't mean people who don't iron their underwear are 'gross'. That's such a bizarre comment to make.

Do nursery workers really go round sniffing children and commenting to parents how good they find the smell?

That's probably the most bizarre thing I've read on MN in a long time.

And God knows, there's been some contenders 😳

When our last iron broke we quietly agreed to not replace it; it was only used for DH to iron his work shirt anyway. That was in 2017. Since then we've discovered crease release spray. It really works and it smells nice too. Win/win.

It's bizarrely old fashioned.

Way back when my grandmother was young, many women judged their own worth (and each others) by how much housework they did.

They'd judge other women harshly in order to make themselves feel 'better' somehow.

As much as the word 'gross' wasn't something they'd use back then, they would've said something like 'slattern' or 'slut' (before slut had a sexual meaning).

You'd hope that by 2024 women would've found a different way to judge their worth, that doesn't involve how much scrubbing and ironing they do 😒

Nope. Absolutely not. Just no.

I don't own an iron 🤣 we both work for ourselves from home so no work uniforms to iron. Did consider getting one for eldests school shirts now he's out of polo ones, but we put them on hangers to dry and they look fine 🤷

I didn't iron either of my DC uniforms (they're adults now) and I was a teacher (retired now). I can assure you that I didn't judge any of my pupils by the crumpliness (?) or not of their uniforms and I didn't expect mine to be judged either.

I haven't ironed clothes on a regular basis ever since I got married in 1980. I learned this from my mother who taught me to use a low speed spin and hang clothes up, smoothing them out. She said she ironed everything when she married in the 50s but then decided it was a fool's game. She was a clever woman.

This is the UK, we don't do style, most people make little effort to look presentable. Unfair to pick out children.

No child will be unhealthy because something is not ironed. However, if they are driven short distances in the SUV or any other car, fed fast food on a regular basis, and spend too much time slumped in front of a screen, it may contribute to poor health.