AIBU to be annoyed that school want us to buy even more clothes...

[FluffyAnimalsRule]

The DD school wants us to send the kids in dressed in bright coloured or patterned leggings for a cheering up dreary January day.

AIBU to resent having to buy new clothes every time the school has a whim for a way of dressing differently? - i don't have anything except dreary black and grey leggings for them. Every time there is a new idea for a dressing up day of some kind i have to buy something new. Last year they needed bright shorts and a cheery top for a summer's beach day theme. Neither of them had bright shorts - lots of dresses but no shorts (their choice, not mine) so i had to buy some.

Grrrr............

They have uniforms for a reason - let them wear them rather than me having to buy extra clothes all the time!

A cheering up dreary January day?? Ye Gads. Whatever next.

It is ridiculous. Just stick to bloody school uniform. It's already OTT imo what with Christmas Jumpers, Red Nose Day, Pudsey shenanigans, World Buggering Book Day.

Wear own clothes? Fine.

Being told what to wear? Not bloody fine.

Sorry if I’ve missed it, but are the boys (if there are any) expected to wear leggings too?

Please ignore the suggestions about stickers! I would have been mortified as a kid if I was sent to school with stickers on my clothes while everyone else turned up in cool bright clothes, and I'm sure other kids would have been quick to point them out too.

YANBU - you shouldn't have to keep buying new things for these occasions. The best thing to do is write to the school/talk to a teacher and express this view to possibly having a different kind of activity or less of these things each year. But since you can't get rid of this particular event, I think the best course of action is a quick trip to Primark or somewhere cheap and cheerful.

I'm chortling, chortling I tell you, at ‘ World Buggering Book Day'...

Maybe i should just buy a job lot of white leggings and cheap fabric dyes and then i can fulfil all requirements

These days are always tricky for us. I dress our whole family in navy blue all the time, so when instructions come to wear a red t-shirt for sports day, or a christmas jumper, or a spotty item for children in need, it throws me completely.

I always end up ordering something about 25 hours before and paying for express delivery, and then it only gets worn once.

Tbh, it's probably good for us to deviate from the constant navy blue, but it's surprises the weasels out of me every time.

Gilly why do they have to change clothes 3 times per day and wear onsies on Wednesdays? That's most peculiar!

My kids have always gone to non uniform schools and always just worn clothes - jeans and t shirts mainly. They change for PE into random tracksuit bottoms or shorts and other t shirts, and of course their pe trainers, just as uniform wearing kids would, but don't otherwise change clothing until bedtime... They don't need different jeans and t shirts during term time to the ones they wear at weekends and during the holidays. Presumably your DD will get used to clothes just being clothes and not having to randomly define some as uniform!

Luckily my DS was never fussed about this sort of thing so we often just didn't bother. Often schools seem to think that parents (mums, anyway) have unlimited time/cash/creativity for all this crap.

Ignore the petty rules. Plain leggings, beach day shorts over the top. They’re hardly going to expel them!

I don’t think the sticker suggestion is silly at all. I bought a pack of coloured electrical tape in Poundland, came in handy on so many occasion. Black t-shirt stick on yellow stripes, bee out fit for mini beast day, white t-shirt stick on red stripes, where’s wally for book day, cut out coloured dots for spotty day, make s with yellow tape on blue tshirt for super hero day, the possibilities are endless!

Fluffy YANBU that requirement is bonkers, and the children will look as though they've forgotten to change their bottom halves out of pyjamas, if they wear uniform on the top!

Stickers will fall off within half an hour surely, that idea sounds bonkers too, asdoes the assumption that you have colourful patches lying about to sew on...

I assume the teacher is not a parent - if they were they would surely realize instantly how impractical their jolly ideas are.

Do your kids have colourful pyjamas, come to think if it? Those would do...

oooh - colourful pyjamas - that's an inspired idea - thanks Evelyn

No plain leggings is a bit unreasonable. Someone is getting a bit carried away with the whole dressing up thing I think and needs reining in. I bet you aren’t the only mum scratching her head on this one. Is there anything in the Pound shops or Christmas sales? Stripy elf tights spring to mind.

Do the DC have any kind of brightly coloured trousers, e.g. pyjamas, jeans, tracksuit bottoms, etc.? If not, can they borrow from a cousin, friend or neighbour?

It seems a waste for the OP to have to buy something new if it can't be worn again.

Ours like to kick off each terms project with a dress up day, plus the obligatory world book day of course. So last term was victorian, duly bought outfit. Midway through they needed "poor Victorian". Bugger that, she went in the same dress.

Now I need Medieval for Monday. Having done Tudor in September 2016. Unfortunately I sold the Tudor outfit plus DD has shot up about 10cms and broadened out too. I suggested we skip this one and she burst jnto tears

Definitely agree with giving feedback about the ridiculousness of these days both because of needing to buy or find clothes you don’t necessarily have and sending out a message that January is dreary!

Are the boys being asked to wear leggings too-several pp have asked? Apologies if I’ve missed the answer.

Fluffy

If they have a onesie or colourful pj's that would be brilliant.
When ours were in primary I wish I'd bought a job lot of colourful tops and bottoms, they do for any non school uniform event.
Only realised on hindsight though.

Evelyn
She chooses to wear a onesie on a wednesday for comfort, due to her timetable.
Some days it calls for a dress and tights, others she wears a suit.
Jeans and t shirts are fine all year round but apart from these she doesn't like to wear the same at weekends if she's at home, or during the holidays.
I too hope she soon gets to grips with this, or school decide to go back to uniform

EBay, stripy tights £2.70.

I doubt if the one teacher - parent or not - has instigated the idea.

I'm crap at coming up with creative ideas. Cakes i can do. Cake sales, remembering days for things, getting homework done, right clothes for day's activities in bags i can do.

Outfit ideas and stuff am rubbish at. Maybe i could send a colourful cake wearing bright leggings and just send the kids in uniform. I can do that far more easily!

Would some bright ribbon tacked down the side seams of your 'dreary' leggings be an option?

Don't know about boys; i only have girls. Requirements are sent out on personalised child newsletters rather than full class or school (although probably 100% identical most of the time). maybe the boys have different requirements. don't know many other mums there, most of my mum friends have kids at a different school.

and yes, I'm a bad mummy who works so don't have day to day contact with teachers or mums so can't ask at the school gate. so don't make me feel bad for that. i only have the girls' leaflets to go on.

Personalised letters for each pupil?!

I would find out what the boys have been given to wear. They can’t stop the girls having the same choice.

No one thinks you’re a bad mummy! Centuries ago I was asked to provide a costume for my DS who had a key role in the school panto. I had neither the time nor the skills to do it but it kept me awake at night worrying. In the end I fessed up and one of the other mothers did it for him. I felt such a failure..

You don’t need face to face contact to find out-email would be fine.