“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?

Lol. I used to iron my uniform as a child. I enjoyed it and would just lie it on my bedroom floor (which was clean carpet, as we never worse shoes in the house).

It's a thing here, I used to do it the night before but now I just do it 1st thing before they get up (they are 5 and 7 not 15 I'll add), I put their clothes on the back of the sofa everything laid out, they are only little so get dressed downstairs.

Ds is 11 and puts his clothes for the next day on his futon bed chair thingy. Nothing is ironed so I’m not in the least bit concerned about it picking up an extra crease. And neither is he!

It's totally a literal thing! I Usenet to until I saw advice that a life hack was for everyone (including me!) to have clothes ready for the morning and shoes at the door. I get my kids to do it at night (or I do it if I know they're going to have trouble because there's parts of the uniform on radiators everywhere!). Just over the end of the bed or on a chair/toy box/whatever at the end of the bed. It saves a lot of crap in the morning!

It’s me who lays the clothes in the order they are put on - why the hell would I put the pants at the bottom of the pile?

My daughter can get herself ready at the weekend just fine; but I’ve to do two different drop-offs, walk the dog, and do a 30 minute commute before my own work starts at 8:45, I simply don’t have any spare time.

And the cereal, spoon etc is laid out for ME. - in the kitchen - so all I have to do is pour the milk in and carry it through. Whilst also wrangling a one year old.

When I was off on maternity leave, sure, I let my daughter do it herself. But it’s ME who is late if things don’t go smoothly.

Yes, same here. She has a choice of items like trousers/ skirt/leggings that are school friendly and makes her own choices. Sometimes lays out own clothes but often changes her mind again in the morning.
And yes, some dryer rummaging happens.

In the morning. The only times I did it the night before the cat got onto it.

My child is still a baby, but for myself I do layout the next days out fit. I look at the following days weather each event, and layout the outfit I’ll wear, down to undies and socks, usually over the armchair in my bedroom. DP doesn’t and instead scrabbles around in the dark cursing because he can’t find the right item of clothing he wants.

Yes laid out over the radiator in hallway so warm and flat in the morning. Don't ever need to iron.

My grandma was born in 1925 and she hung out my uniform in the 80s.
My mum also hung out my uniform in the 80s.

I do it for my DC but in a much more "stuff it on the radiator" way.

The PP who mentioned the kids in her class. I'm very capable of doing stuff for myself thanks. It's not like I grew up and didn't know how to fetch my own clothes.

Just an ignorant belittling comment for belittling sake. Your post says more about you than any of us 😂

I take out from the wardrobe the clothes needed on their hangers, and hang them up on the wardrobe handles or from the top of the wardrobe door so it's ready. I'll hang underwear over the a hanger handle too. Saves searching around and also if things have been mixed up I can spot them.

If you mean literally laying out then occasionally I'll drape them (still on hangers) over the flat bannister or the bottom bunk etc.

Everything is laid out - all the clothes including underwear, shoes are clean and ready with laces undone, (spent too long trying to undo knots in a hurry in the morning to not do it the night before!), coats, hats and gloves hung on the post at the bottom of the stairs, bags packed by the door complete with sports kits, lunchboxes and water bottles clean and ready to be filled in the kitchen, etc, etc...

It saves time by highlighting anything that needs rectifying the night before ie if shoelaces are broken there's time to find alternative ones, if a coat is still damp and stuffed in a schoolbag it has time to be hung up to dry overnight, if sports trainers are caked in mud and wet through they have time to be cleaned and dried out, there's no hunting around for bits of PE kit, or jumpers, or the right socks. Mornings are very simple and easy if all the prep is done the night before.

So in short, I do lay out clothes and I still call it laying out too.

Forget laying it out which is obviously common but do people really iron school uniform? And hang it up in wardrobes??? Surely not primary uniform, guess I can see maybe for secondary, though aren't they all made of material that doesn't really crease much?

Oh, and just to add - my daughter is involved in the “laying out” process too. But she can’t reach her wardrobe, so she usually does things like sorting her own water bottle, getting her own gym kit/book bag, choosing pants and socks, and so on. The only part she doesn’t do is getting her trousers and top down . She does, however, get her little brothers clothes out his (smaller) wardrobe most days too.

I lay it out the night before, in the order they put them on in in their bedrooms.

PippaF2 that does sound organised! In our case I always grab two tops so I can say e.g. "do you want the dinosaur top or the bus top"

I lay out pants, vest and socks on top of the toy box. And take trousers, T-shirt and jumper out of the wardrobe and hang on the wardrobe door handle ready for the morning. Book bag goes downstairs ready to be grabbed when we're leaving and his coat hangs on the back of a dining chair also ready to be grabbed.

No never, it takes seconds to extract it from the wardrobe. The kids know how

Depends. If they have breakfast club we leave by 7.35 so this can help. If no club we leave at 8.25 so don't need to as have time to eat, get dressed, make packed lunches etc in that 50 minutes. Get up 6.45 to 7ish.

Same here. Hang up the next day’s outfit for my 5 and 3 year old in their rooms, then decide what I’m going to wear and fish that out too. DH gets his own out and hangs it up ready to steam before he leaves.
It’s Easter holidays and I still do it, have just hung up their clothes for tomorrow ready for the morning 🙈 It just helps me feel less frazzled in the mornings. I have been chronically late for everything my whole life and really struggle with timekeeping, this just helps me not be late. DD has not been late to school once yet but it takes prep for me to get her there on time!

Are you thinking of Rebecca in the Daphne du Maurier novel whose housekeeper (would have been a lady’s maid in the very olden days) laid out her mistress’ flowing chiffon sea green nightgown on the four poster bed every evening? 😂

My youngest is a muck magnet so normally has everything clean each day. With this in mind I normally pop one of everything on a coat hanger with a pair of tights and knickers wrapped around the top when putting things away and then just need to take a set out of the wardrobe each morning. If I can reuse things I do - have enough laundry as it is! Similar approach for my work uniform, get it all ready and folded up the night before. I'm not great with rushed panicky mornings so have to do this for my own peace of mind really.

When DD was in primary school she had a small set of 5, shallow plastic drawers that lived in the bottom of her wardrobe. She would have a fresh polo shirt and skirt every day with a new cardigan/jumper every 2/3 days unless needed sooner.

So on a Sunday evening I would get her to help me fill the drawers with everything she needed for each day - fresh knickers, vest, socks/tights; hair bows/bands/bobbles; polo shirt; skirt in every drawer and cardigans and jumpers in every other drawer - so she knew that in the morning she just had to get up, take the drawer out of the unit, and put on whatever was in it. No faffing, no searching for lost things and an easy routine that took 5 minutes on a Sunday and made every morning so much easier.

Now DD is in secondary I leave her to sort herself out but she essentially has the same routine - she has a fresh shirt every day but rewears her skirts and jumpers for a few days at a time so now before she goes to bed her fresh shirt/skirt/jumper for the following day is hung on the front of the wardrobe and if a skirt or jumper is on their second days wear then they will be draped on the chair in the corner in a pile along with her socks/underwear so that she literally just has to roll out of bed, grab the pile of stuff and put it on, no rooting round any drawers first thing in the morning.

It generally helps that we also have a "home for everything" so it's just second nature - we have a kallax unit in the hall where all of DDs bags, shoes and extra curricular supplies live so as soon as she comes home from dance class, for example, I wash her dance stuff, it goes back in her bag and goes in the "dance stuff" cube. That way we can always see at a glance if something is missing and when it comes to getting out of the door every day it's just a case of grabbing her school bag, shoes and whatever stuff she needs for the day and leaving - no having to hunt for her trainers or her flute - because it's always there in the kallax and before bed we make sure everything we need for the following day is definitely waiting.

We lay everything out to save time and reduce stress in the morning. Although it's still pretty stressful. My eldest likes to use his post-bath, pre-attire time to ponder the life's quirks (he also does this to stretch bedtime). I already have to plead with him to talk AND dry himself then hurry up and get dressed. While begging him, I am also trying very hard to allow my 3 year old to dress himself without intervention (he snaps and snarls at me if I try to help anyway, which is not so great when his polo is on back to front etc).

The judgement from people who don't do this is crazy. Its a well known tip to ensure your mornings are less stressful and a good way to make sure you've got everything you need. My kids get their own stuff out, I literally shout 'get your school stuff ready' and they bring it all to where it needs to be. And then will let me know if they can't find a jumper or whatever so I can sort it. I don't think I'm pandering to them by doing that.

Some people have busier, more chaotic lives then others, I'm a lone parent of 3 and I work full time. Anything that makes that morning run a bit smoother and takes that pressure and stress off is a good thing. I don't think mocking people is ok.

Also, I don't see it as micromanaging, I see it as teaching good habits. My older DC sets out their own clothes now and keeps their room fairly tidy as it is the norm, it's what you do.

At the weekends it's different. They choose their own stuff and wouldn't lay it out. They understand it's an organisational skill for work/school days so that mornings run smoother and they have the right stuff at hand that's clean and ready.