Uniformity

If I had to choose the single most llama drama-saving measure in my life, it would have to be the school uniform. I never knew I could feel love like that for plain white polo shirts and navy or plaid skorts, but now I absolutely owe my sanity and mental wellness to them.

The concept behind the school uniform is a brilliant one – remove the usual trappings of social status and materialism by ensuring that every child wears exactly the same clothes. But on a selfish and personal level (which I find to be the most important), I am a fan because it’s saved us countless hours of wardrobe decisions, not to mention lots of dollars at the mall.

It’s not surprising that most schools – both public and private – have now gone to a uniform dress code. In my mind, I credit some harried Mama Llama with introducing the idea. She’d just gone through 12 exhausting rounds of fights with her daughter on what she would wear to school and decided she’d had enough – she was going to change the school dress code to something her offspring could not argue with or die trying. It’s a beautiful story, isn’t it?!?

Our younger daughter will not wear a school uniform until next year so I still have to debate clothing choices with her…but her older sister is the one who really has definite ideas about what she will and will not wear – so the uniform has been a godsend. In fact, I can almost guarantee that we would be late on a regular basis if we had to select a different outfit each day.

Just this morning, I discovered another big time-saver. Our eldest went to bed last night in pajamas but when I woke her up this morning and she pulled the covers back, she was fully dressed in her school uniform – white polo shirt, navy skort and tights, etc. Everything but her shoes. She had decided late last night that she could sleep longer in the morning if she were already dressed for school.

And incidentally, making decisions to maximize her sleeping time in the morning pretty much proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’s my daughter. I could not be more proud.