Picket Fence Post

While eating lunch today, I leafed through the massive stack of mail neither I nor The Spouse have looked at in several days. Included among the bills and guidelines about our town’s new “transfer station” (i.e. — the dump) stickers, was the Lands’ End school uniform catalog.

My kids all attend public school and I’m not entertaining the notion of sending them to a private educational institution, HOWEVER, there was something charming about looking at the photos of children in school uniforms. My favorites were the tan and navy pants (for both genders), polo shirts and sweaters in solid colors. Envisioning those being my children’s only in-school clothing options instilled me with a sense of . . . oh, I don’t know, how do I describe the feeling? Calmness? Wishful thinking?

It’s not that I’m a fan of plaid skirts or blazers and ties for little boys. Those things are just cruel. But if all my kids had to choose from when they get dressed for school in the morning were the same clothes everyone else in school would be wearing, think of how simple my life . . . oh, I’m sorry, THEIR lives would be. No more arguing over what’s appropriate. No more fights (about attire at least). No more tales of being told by classmates — when you’re in THIRD grade — that your clothes aren’t cool. (Yes, that junk’s happening already. With both of my 9-year-olds.)

While I’d be satisfied with having an established set of clothing that could be worn to school (not a plaid uniform or jacket per se) for grades K-8, I could even toy with the idea that this could be a good idea for the walking hormonal cocktails known as high school students . . . although the teens would likely rebel and file some sort of lawsuit while being defended by the ACLU saying that their right to expose their bellies and the back of their boxer shorts are protected by the Constitution.

I asked my kids what they’d think of having to wear tan or navy pants (or skorts), along with polo shirts and plain sweaters for school. Here’s what they said:

The Eldest Boy: All right. I love collared shirts. (He’s my little Alex P. Keaton.)

The Girl: (Nothing verbal, just a full-body cringe and a look on her face as though she’d just eaten poo.)

The Youngest Boy: (Flipping through the catalog, pointing to the gym clothes — plain T-shirts, shorts and sweatpants) If we could wear this stuff all the time, okay.

Just for kicks, I Googled “school uniforms” and “public school” and learned that many public schools have been toying with this idea, or have implemented it.

What do you think of the idea of having your kids’ schools adopting a dress code and/or uniform?