To have taken my daughter to nursery in a paint stained t shirt?

[FigsEverywhere]

Daughter is approaching 3 and is at nursery. She loves it when they paint there and despite painting aprons, can end up with it on her t shirt, vest (??!), leggings, shoes etc. Even her coat has paint on the sleeves from painting outside.

I don't care about this - I only use hand me downs from the eldest, cousins or worst case, a bundle of playwear from vinted for nursery. Nothing she wears to go there has any particular value or sentiment.

I have never worried about the condition of her clothes or the state of cleanliness - I'd rather she has fun while I'm at work.

But this morning I sent her in a jumper that had paint over it - stained. It was perfectly clean, just had green paint splodges over the front. I got an odd look from some other parents dropping off at the same time and on reflection I'm wondering whether it's looking like a safeguarding or neglect issue. She's always clean in herself, just her clothes could have any number of paint splodges over.

AIBU sending her in paint covered clothes, even if she is clean?

Don't worry OP - my daughter goes into nursery in stained clothing. Our nursery even ask we put them in in clothes that they wouldn't wear outside of the nursery as they do so many crafts/painting/water play/outside activities.
I would say it's pretty normal. There's no point in putting them in "good" clothes when they're just likely to get ruined.

I assume the clothes have been washed?

If so, absolutely not an issue. I used to work on a play centre for school children - lots of playing outside, climbing trees, cooking in fires, craft etc. We had signs up everywhere saying 'Play clothes are not best clothes'.

If my daughter didn’t go in with paint stains, she’d have to go in nude.

As long as she doesn't smell filthy or has unbrushed hair / teeth. Has she got clean hands and fingernails?

Clean rest of clothes?

I doubt they'll give a hoot.

I think it's clear to see who is neglected and who isn't.

E.g I see a boy walk home with trousers too short and shoes that are too big (gap at the back) he shuffles along. when its raining he wears a tatty coat and his backpack is old and ripped. It breaks my heart. Yes, I've phoned the local secondary school. x

When my children were nursery age I had a whole drawer of old /
paint stained / faded / scruffy clothes that they only wore to nursery.

The kids were happy because I never got annoyed with them about their damaged clothes and the nursery staff loved me . They got fed up with parents stressing about lost / damaged designer / brand new clothes that the stupid parents had sent to nursery.

I mentally divide clothes into nursery clothes and non-nursery clothes. If it's already stained it's automatically in nursery clothes.

Basically all of my daughter's tops have stains on them. She's always in clean (as in washed) clothes, but I'm not going to throw away every top that gets paint or tomato on it.

Pretty much every parent I know has sent their child to school in clean but stained clothes... mini whiteboards are a fantastic resource for learning, but they get the pain all over their shirts and jumpers!!

The only bit of uniform I had to retire was a school dress from a joyful afternoon of using a hosepipe in the mud kitchen and rolling in it (yes they were stopped within a few minutes but it was too late by then! 😂)

No, not at all. But why do it and then agonise about it after?

Total non issue - my four year old daughter always goes in, in paint stained clothing or clothes fit for playtime. When she first started I was advised not to put her in her best clothes to come to nursery as it will always get ruined or even lost.

As someone who works in a nursery, please send them in stained clothes, it'll make us feel less bad when we send them home with more paint on them 😂 We can definitely tell the difference between stained and dirty..

You need an Astonish stain remover bar.... honestly the best thing ever, gets off every single paint and whiteboard marker stain from my girls nursery/school uniform!

You really got funny looks from the other parents? Honestly? I can hardly believe you bothered to write such a long post about this complete non-issue!

Hahaha she’s 3! Don’t give it another thought.

My DD is a teenager studying art. All of her school uniform is stained with acrylic paint. 🤷‍♀️ she’s not bothered by it so neither am I.

They were probably wondering why they hadn't thought of doing that themselves. 🤣

mine too. I have a right giggle when I see these perfectly turned out kids knowing that it won't last. But I do feel sorry for them as they get older, too afraid to play and get dirty because 'mummy will get cross'.

My daughter goes in looking like she’s been dragged through a hedge backwards – even when she’s chosen her own (stained) clothes and done a “hairstyle”. A natural ragamuffin. No funny looks from parents, even the ones who drop of pristine kids in matching outfits – more fool them, our nursery had a powder paint fight for Holi, no protective clothing just literally throwing paint on each other!

Did they really give you an odd look? No one would care or even notice round here

I do this with my DD, she always comes back covered in paint and mud from the garden. Though I do always notice that the other kids tend to be dressed smarter and also don't seem to look that mucky when they come out, which I find perplexing.

When mine were at nursery we were encouraged to send them in in older or stained clothing as paint / mud were common & no point ruining good clothes. It took me a while to actually do it and some kids went in in stuff much more stained than mine did. However, at school mine come hone with paint, mud, food all down them & i’ve given up replacing things the stains can’t come out of its too expensive even buying cheap supermarket ones so i’ve stopped. Clothes are washed (as are my kids) ironed & they have brushed teeth & hair fixed but today my son has gone in with a jumper with a paint stain on the back (?) & a whole in his trousers as he is already on his 4th pair of “reinforced knee” trousers since December - i have no idea what he does & i won’t be able to collect more in his size until tomorrow (he can wear joggers tomorrow as they have pe) i would only notice if other kids clothes were dirty

DD's nursery used to specifically ask us to send her in in old clothes that we didn't mind getting messy. Stains were positively encouraged.

Are you sure they gave you a look? Seems odd. maybe it was about something else or they are just twats.

I bet some of them were thinking “oh, is that ok” and you’ll see their kids in paint stained clothes next week 😁.

There’s a big difference between stained and dirty. Nursery staff know the difference. They won’t have any worries about paint stains, and will probably be grateful that you send her in sensible clothes! Dirty clothes, unwashed/brushed hair, etc, is when it starts to be a safeguarding concern.

Stained but clean is also fine in our house. Maybe other parents were looking wondering if they had a matching paint splodge on something at home? DD is 2.5 and fell into some green paint at Christmas, then slipped and fell into it again. She thought it was hilarious and had to be actively removed from doing it again, her outfit was covered from neck to ankle in it and I often see another child with a green stained top and wonder if the same thing happened to them.

When DTs were at nursery they had nursery clothes, 5 x t shirts, 5x long sleeve tops, 5x leggings, 5x shorts. They were always clean but definitely had stains on them. No way would I replace clothes because they had paint on them, for them to get and more paint on them.

I’d never stop buying clothes if I stopped using anything that got stained! Even 8 yo goes in to school with perfectly washed (but stained) jumpers etc. I replace them as I go obviously but I really wouldn’t feel pressured by this as a parent of a 3yo, I mean even a well knowing washing power advertises dirt as good!