“Laying out school uniform”

[museumum]

I’ve just realised that I’ve never actually considered the phrase “laying out school uniform” literally. Does anybody literally do this the night before? And if so, where? Have you all got massive “dressing” rooms? With space to lay out outfits?

We prep the school uniform, iron shirts and things. But it needs to stay in the wardrobes until it’s time to put it on.

AIBU to think laying it out isn’t really a literal thing?

Yes we do this

Over a chair.

@L3ThirtySeven dh is a paramedic and I have to get the kids and myself dressed downstairs so he can sleep!! There is absolutely nothing wrong with my system as I'm sure yours works great too.

Wow! Only read the first page and all but one of the replies says yes it's normal - gosh?!?!

Hopefully later posts will have diluted that a bit - and maybe it is more of a thing for primary school kids (I expect I put their stuff on a chair as PPs have suggested, when they were small). But an alarming number of people say they do it for themselves and their DPs as well. Very weird...... (Although BIL is 20 yrs older than we are and his DP puts out both of their clothes every day, AND matches their colour schemes......)

OP - no. We don't lay out clothes. We have chairs in our rooms with some things left on that are worn but not yet ready for the wash. Jeans, jumpers etc. With the DCs, school/cadets uniform is hung on hangers from the curtain rail or wardrobes, and/or taken from the wardrobe as required. (Not normally put back in the wardrobe once worn, so they know which is the current 'partly worn' stuff.)

BUT I do remember as a child of about ten being so excited about my fortnightly riding lessons. I used to leave a trail of my riding clothes by my bed so when I got up I put each item on in turn as they were laid out on the floor! I literally laid out my clothes - but I doubt my DM ever realised how weird I was..... !

We never went in the living room before school growing up and don’t now either. If I put DS in a room with a TV in it we’d never leave! It’s always been bedroom, bathroom and kitchen then out!

I solve this problem by simply living in Scotland, when tights are required year round.
Life hack.

I didn’t say your system was wrong, just that I don’t understand how laying out clothes and so on is time saving/more streamlined/more organised than not doing so.

Same here. Although, we didn’t have a TV growing up! (We got a used one from a charity shop when I was 14)

Haha, don't know why this reminds me, but we were watching a bit of the Queen's coffin procession in Edinburgh and DD2 and DS were squinting at the screen really peculiarly. I couldn't figure out what they were looking for. And eventually DS said, very disappointed, "But they all seem to be wearing normal clothes. I can't see anyone in a kilt at all."

I'm not sure I'd dare move them to Scotland...

Not as cold as my child hood Home then or you more hench 😂😂

We got dressed in bed or downstairs as bloody bitter no central heating

My eldest is still in nursery but I do pick his outfit with underwear and put it ontop of his toybox ready for the morning. Saw a great hack about getting one of the shoe organisers you hang inside a wardrobe and having sets of uniform + underwear on each level ready which is something I'll definitely do when he starts school in September

That must have just been a one off; I can assure you; Scottish people do in fact wear kilts at all times. It’s easier to hide the whisky when catching a haggis with your bagpipes in a kilt. They were just wearing normal clothes to fuck with the English. It’s all an elaborate hoax.

No school uniform here but every night I pick out my next day’s outfit, and hang it in the bathroom. I put everything in the order it goes on (pants on the very top) so it’s easy because even after a shower I am not a morning person! No idea how I would manage with other people to get organised too.

Absolutely!

If laying out uniform helps you, great.
If you don't want to lay it out, great.
Whatever works for you and your family.

Came here to say this. Unless they're brand new in school most kids will know what their daily uniform is and where to find it.
I'd be less surprised if we're talking kids with SEND but the amount of responses makes it sound like this is the norm.

I understand more people talking about getting their own clothes ready for the morning, if you're short on time and don't have a worl uniform then it's easier to have clothes planned the night before but otherwise why double up on work just moving stuff from one holdinh place to another and infantilising growing kids in the process?

Yes - it'sa thing. I lay out my son's uniform the night before on his beanbag :-) 6 items - shirt, tie, jumper, shorts, socks and boxers. His blazer is on a hanger near the front door. Having everything ready makes everything a lot easier in the morning.

Oh thank god, this is also me. With an additional ‘will anyone notice if you wear your PE kit all day?’ or ‘can you squeeze into your old skirt?’.

When my kids were at primary school I put the uniform folded on the bottom stairs, with their shoes and school bags.

Nope, never done it.

When my children were in primary school they had an allocated drawer/wardrobe space in their rooms where their uniform would be. They just had to get it out.

Once in secondary school, I put their folded clothes (including uniform) in their room and it is their responsibility to put it away and get it out in the morning.

I lay it out over a chair

And, "just wear your sister's, it's not that much bigger".

Going a bit far if I were to say that to my son 🤣

I don't 'lay it out' anywhere as such but I hang their uniforms in their rooms at night, on their door hooks. Blazers hanging up in the hall.

I am a supremely disorganised person but I do lay the DC's uniform on chairs, even the 13 yo. They sort their own underwear/tights but I do the rest. This is mainly because they get up a bit earlier than me and if it's not out for them they will come and wake me up to find stuff and I savour every precious moment in bed.

I'm not nearly so organised with my own clothes and just grab anything available.

Usually we are rummaging in the tumble dryer on Monday morning going "who forgot to put their shirts in the wash?!?"
I get more stressed doing it that way than getting organised. On Sundays I iron 5x trousers and 5x shirts for each of them then I don't have to do anything until the following weekend. So much easier.

I just did this exact thing. Kids already sleeping so they're laying across carefully placed cushions outside their bedroom doors a la "don't you dare walk downstairs and start watching TV without it being on you".