Conformity

"Back in the day," as Anthony likes to say, I went to Catholic school. Yup, I was a HAWK at St. Mary School, class of '81 (and a cheerleader in 6th grade if you can believe that!). Years later, I swore I would never send any child of mine to Catholic school. I think those were the same years I was going to give birth to twin girls and name them Stephanie and Jill. I may have had an asymetrical haircut at the time too, but I digress. Anyway, flash forward a couple decades plus and my daughter is now about a month away from beginning her school career. It's a preschool, just 3 mornings a week (nine hours, but who is counting). It has an excellent reputation, the hours suit our schedule, we know several people who send their children there and, yes, it is a Catholic school and yes, insanely, there is a uniform (thankfully nothing like the hideous plaid mini- jumper I had to wear for eight years. Did I mention yet that my mom sewed mine to save money and it was always a slightly different color than everyone else's AND had darts long before I ever knew what darts were for?) So we have been uniform shopping all around these past few weeks, picking up various navy and khaki items here and there as cheaply as possible...navy sneakers during our trip to Maryland, tops and a sweater in NYC this past weekend, clearance shorts at Target ("allowed through September 30th, no exceptions"). I've been amazed at how almost every department and children's clothing store has a school uniform line of clothing, but the challenge has been getting clothes small enough for my tiny preschooler, especially finding pants that fit the requirements AND that she can handle independently in the bathroom.

I still could have an asthma attack if I think too much about B. starting school, but I'm taking it one day at a time. And I am not yet convinced this will be the place she stays for elementary school, but this is where she will start.

So, for 3 mornings a week starting at the end of August, I'll keep the bright colors and funky outfits in the closet.......and the cute hairstuff too I suppose.....

and she'll look a little more like this (probably minus pompom barettes too).....

or this on a cooler morning.

During this fashion preview show, I asked if she liked her school clothes, and I got an emphatic "NO!" and she began to struggle madly with the zipper/sweater like it was chains and shackles.

Five minutes later she was back to her normal self, dancing around with nothing more on than her self-wrapped blanket sarong.

Good luck School of Saint Joseph!