I’ve had a lot of people begin to notice we have homeschool uniforms this year. The conversation generally goes like this, “Are those HOMESCHOOL uniforms?” I reply, “Yes indeed!” And they usually say something affirmative like, “AWESOME.” Then the conversation stops.
I do suspect maybe friends want to follow the “AWESOME” with a “why?”
Personally I’ve known friends and popular bloggers (within the Catholic blogosphere at least) who have used family uniforms and my thoughts were kind of indifferent, but part of me was curious if there were any true benefits. I mean, they said there were benefits, but I wasn’t so sure. Just why would a mom choose this for her kids?
So for the curious, I wanted to show my progression of thought that has run from indifferent to now I’m one of those weird, homeschooling moms who actually paid money to have a school name she choose embroidered onto a polo.
It all started with Suri Cruise. Yes. You read that right my friends. I was skimming the web looking for private school information, and I laid eyes on the most adorable school uniform I’d ever seen. Grey pleats and ankle socks, black Mary Janes and a Peter Pan collar.
I’ve always had an odd school uniform envy. See because we are Catholic, I have several dozen friends who post first day of school pictures of their children in spiffy, preppy clothes headed to Catholic school. Secretly I want my kids to look like that. I don’t know why. I’m very much a free spirit. I sent my oldest to a school you could definitely describe as a “hippie school” and considered heavily sending them to another grassroots, completely unstructured, barefoot kind of free school. However, when I see pleats I kind of lose my mind a little. Throw in some knee socks, a plaid headband, and I’m done for. I’m not ashamed, it’s just how I am and I’ve come to accept that I rarely make a whole lot of sense when compared to a sane, rational woman.
So that was step one: the tugging on my heartstrings, all thanks to some paparazzi harassing a small girl on her way to school and possibly her personal stylist or whatever.
Step two was a little more cathartic. As we transitioned from above said “hippie school” looking for a wee bit more structure and a lot more security for our oldest, I visited pretty much every private school in our area. I, like every other parent, just wanted my kid in the best atmosphere for her. However, what I became incredibly frustrated to find is that none of the schools were “equipped to take on” my child. My oldest has mild intellectual disability. If you met her, you’d notice her speech is a bit unintelligible, but socially she functions at age level. She has no strong behavioral setbacks. She just doesn’t learn quickly or well at her age-level. She’s a good bit behind. Trying to teach her to read at 9 is akin to teaching my son when he was 3. There’s some understanding, but it mostly goes over her head.
During my school search, I would get very, very excited about a great prospect. I’d call, contemplate our morning and afternoon commutes, and figure out how we’d afford it. However, by the time I’d gotten my hopes sky high, the school would call or tell me during a tour that maybe they were not the best fit for our family. After about 5 of these rejections, I began to free fall into frustration, anger and my ENTP nature took over — “FINE. I don’t want your school anyway. We are too awesome for you. We will homeschool, AND we will have our own adorable uniforms if I want us to.”
AND SO…
I talked to my husband. Confirmed that although he thought I was being a little crazy, he had no problems with uniforms if it would make me feel better. So I online-ordered a few polos and a few pleated skirts and dresses. I clicked the custom embroidery option and emailed our Website logo I’d already designed. They arrived and fit great. The kids loved the color and that they now were more alike Harry Potter than ever before.
You know what? That was a year ago. Am I regretful in anyway that we got uniforms? Nope. I still feel a bit defiant when we wear them, and that kind of rocks. The only thing I do feel a little bad about is if another Montessori “extremist” Mom sees us in public, she FREAKS OUT and begs us to tell her WHERE IS THE LOCAL MONTESSORI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!?
Because we have none.
My husband thinks this is really funny and embarrassing for me. Which it slightly is when I tell them it’s the name of our homeschool. But usually it’s pans out to be a boon because I’ve found a new Montessori friend who wants to know how we pull off an at-home Montessori education.
And as we all know, Montessori-lovers are the coolest of people, right?
PART 2:
Homeschool Uniforms: How?
