AIBU school uniform

[Ijustdontknowwhattodo1018]

Am I being unreasonable to refuse to buy new shorts?

The school uniform states plain Black shorts for PE but the teachers have been commenting on my child’s shorts and telling them they are not appropriate.
They are proper ‘sports’ shorts and not that it matters but they are not cheap, they’re good quality, good fit, they don’t fall down etc.
I just don’t see what the problem is and what infuriates me is that they keep telling a 4 year old rather than telling me why there is a problem…after all, it is me who is buying the uniform and not my child.

Also, are we not supposed to be building children up, not making them feel self conscious?

They look grey to me but I'll take your word for it and imagine them being black:

They do seem to be tight fitting which some schools don't want. I get that some schools let those cycle shorts type shorts but some don't - yours is probably one of them. Confirm with your school on exactly what type of shorts they want.

So when you asked your child's teacher directly @Ijustdontknowwhattodo1018 what did they say the issue was?

Depends on the build if the child really..if they are small with skinny legs they would look different to a kid with chunkier thighs. Wouldn't have gotten over dd2s arse cheeks though I have to admit 🤣

Mind u she did do PE in her pants ( shorts style) on a couple of occasions and no one noticed. Id say at 4 its probably not too bad but as I said earlier just replace for September get the 2 pack of cycling shorts from next that come up longer

Surely you just buy to fit their waist? That's what I did with DS. Doesn't matter if they are a 5-6 on an 8 year old as they are shorts, track pants are more probmatic.

They look a bit thin. Just buy the unisex shorts like these that are made of sweatshirt-like material:

Shorts

This thread is very funny. I've read the word 'shorts' so many times now that it's stopped looking like a real word. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

“Too outing” means “cycling” on MN.

They’re the kind of shorts my DD wears under her school skirt/pinafore, white ones under her summer dress.
She too has to wear black shorts for PE, but they would be far too short for that. She has just above knee length cycling shorts.

ShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShortsShorts

🤣 Yes I kind of gave up when something was going to be “outing” but hung in so I could see if the OP answered anyones questions.

There's not a whole lot of leg part below the crotch part so maybe they want something that looks less like a boxer short.

Good grief. Post a photo plus official written description of the shorts the school want, and the same for the ones you actually have. Then we can play spot the difference, and you can sort yourself it out before the next academic year. Or, you could just talk to the relevant teacher.

Oh god I think reading all these replies my DC's must be way too short ha ha. Problem is they are tall and slim so sizing up they would be massive on the waist and sizing down even shorter haha. Although I'd love the long legs 🤣🤣🤣

Sorry but I am not psychic on Thursdays so can’t help.

Hope you have the attention you wanted.

The only thing I can think of is that they are expecting shorts to be knee length loose fit and you've got your child some lycra short shorts that aren't appropriate for the activities they're doing because otherwise there is no problem as far as I can see

So exactly as I suspected earlier ... They want loose sports shorts and you've sent your child in lycra short shorts

The fact you're being deliberately obtuse about why they're inappropriate is not making you look any better

They're more like knickershorts.....
I wouldn't say they're inappropriate and think his teachers are being odd. But they aren't pe shorts, it's not nice for kids that age when they stand out from their peers. Just get him normal pe shorts like.his classmates will be wearing next time.

What are you talking about?!?!

You do realise 4 year olds aren't particularly reliable?!

Just ask the bloody teacher - like multiple people have said and you continue to ignore.

WEIRD.

If they are saying things to your child but not you, and you're worried about how that makes your child feel, why haven't you gone to the teacher yourself and asked? Why are you leaving it to your child to hear this?

If your child is 4 there's every chance you aren't getting the right picture. Mine come out with some right random stuff. Once they said they'd been kept in at lunchtime when they hadn't. At that age they misunderstand things.

You say the teachers are telling your child. Could it be your DC feels a tad different as they are not PE shorts and the other kids are saying something. For the sake of a couple of pounds but a proper pair of sports shorts. Dc need to belong at this age.

Yes 🤣

Why is this coming up now in July? What have they been wearing since September?

I really don’t see anything about these shorts that changes by being tall and slim or short and fat. you can see that the amount of material on the leg proportional to the crotch area is tiny. They are barely pass the bum on any height.

Why doesn't the teacher go to the op if there's an issue? The boy is 4 , he has no choice in what he wears its not like when they are older and refuse to wear the pe shorts you buy them. The teacher shouldn't be talking to the child about this .

Those shorts look fine, it's obviously the light on the picture making them look lighter and the legs look wide

They look grey, must have very strange lightning if they are black. They also aren't PE shorts.
Tbh I probably wouldn't worry about it for two weeks but buy him some proper black PE shorts for September. Or don't but it's your child who will suffer if you don't.

They look fine to me, OP. I would have bought shorts like that for my kids at that age (and they buy shorts like that now), and for me when I did sport.

I had problems with PE kit (not shorts!) when one of mine was in primary because, apparently, her PE pumps came off when they ran. But they didn't tell me what was wrong with them, just told me they weren't suitable and since they didn't come off when she ran for me and they fit the school's uniform policy I was at a total loss as to what I was supposed to replace them with.

The lack of communication was abysmal. I kept asking what the problem was and got the same generic "they aren't suitable" back for 3 weeks. The form teacher who I saw at pick up/drop off didn't do PE with them so was at a loss to explain. I eventually had to email the head to sort it out.

I would have a word with the form teacher that you find the comments being made to the child who is a) in uniform and b) not in a position to make any changes, really unkind and unprofessional and ask that they stop doing so and, if it is actually causing an issue of some kind, amend their uniform policy.

Is it actually a message just to you or a groupcall to all parents?