School Uniform Prices
Apr. 16th, 2014 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarflameI think that part of the purpose of school uniforms is supposed to be that they cost less than "designer clothes." But they cost SO MUCH MORE than *I* typically ever spend on clothes! The uniforms I've bought Isaac and Elise DO hold up really well, and I appreciate that about them, but, gah! Elise especially is still at an age when cheap clothes are outgrown before they fall apart, anyway, so if I get her $4 pairs of shorts off the table-shelves at Target that's just fine.
Her preschool had a policy of "just" wearing the preschool's tshirts every day, with whatever bottoms you chose. They were $10 each. So I spent $50 for 5 tshirts for her at the beginning of the year, and then about $30 more throughout fall and winter because some of the originals got so stained up (since, you know, preschooler), and one just vanished. Then in February, I had to spend another $50 because the old shirts suddenly didn't fit anymore. While those costs are not the end of the world, I would straight up never normally spend $130 on tshirts for a 4 year old in one year! This is leaving aside the laundry nightmare of realizing you don't have a clean uniform shirt in the morning and always having to plan for this, or seeing something grimey on one that had just come out of the dryer, and losing your mind that 2 months into ownership you can only find 3 of the 5 shirts no matter how you tear the house apart.
I fantasized regularly about walking in there and dropping hundreds of dollars on shirts so it would never be a problem again. They were stacked up there all tantalizing, behind the desk by the door.
I'm looking at the prices for uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, now. Thinking, "WHAT?"
Lately, Ananda normally wears a mixture of stuff she's blatantly stolen from Laura and I (mostly things we don't fit in anymore anyway), 2 giant garbage bags of awesome expensive barely used stuff from her friend Mia, who was going away to college, a few things she's traded with her friend Izzy, Hot Topic shirts she buys herself with saved up allowance money when they're having special promotions, and things we've found at Goodwill. The only clothes I've really bought her new over the last couple of years are the one formal outfit she needs for orchestra performances, $4 blank shirts from craft aisles for her to paint her derby number on for bouts, and really nice socks, bras and underwear. Ok and there were tights and leggings in her Christmas stocking and they all get pajamas on Christmas Eve. You get the point.
How am I supposed to spend much on clothes for her, when we've went from making rent-to-own payments on her cello to financing her braces? We've replaced her skates, upgraded her knee pads and helmet, and taken her on 3 derby trips, this past year. Fancier clothes are obviously not a priority to her, since all she wants for every birthday is more books and art supplies.
Aaron, Isaac and Jake mostly wear trash bag loads of really nice (sometimes still new with tags) clothes from a family we know with three boys who are all a little older than our boys. This past December I did stock them all up when Old Navy was having an absolutely ridiculous sale - I got them something like a dozen outfits (combined) for around $200, to fill in the gaps in their wardrobes. Before that I can't remember the last time I bought them any new clothes but socks and underwear, except for Aaron's dance things, Isaac's cheerleading stuff, Halloween costume pieces, etc.
And also of course about $600 for Isaac's uniforms, for 3rd and 4th grade, counting things he outgrew mid-year in 3rd. I mean, damn!
The point is that I was looking at the required uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, and it's even worse than Isaac's school uniform prices. I mean the pants are $25 per pair, and on cold days their only outerwear options are a school hoodie or windbreaker that is $35, either way. Shorts are $22. There are like 5 styles of shirt, all $14-17. Those prices do NOT include getting the school's logo embroidered on all the tops (shirts and outerwear), which it has to be. I guess hey're not super unreasonable prices taken individually, but I'm sitting here thinking that even if I'm VERY modest (like 5 regular shirts, and one long sleeved, 3 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, and something for cold days, each) it's going to be $500. And I'm really not convinced that will be enough. And I'm damn well certain Aaron is going to outgrow everything I get him by Christmas and need all new stuff. Assuming he doesn't destroy the pants' knees long before that. AND I AM COMPLETELY SURE THAT AS SOON AS HE STARTS THEY'RE GOING TO SEND HOME A LIST OF DANCE CLOTHES AND SHOES HE NEEDS TO WEAR ONLY FOR THOSE HOURS OF THE DAY.
I honestly don't understand how mandated school uniforms can be legal at free public schools. I mean I've always been ideologically opposed to school uniforms regardless, although I'm less vehemently so now than I used to be, but really - I'm 100% sure the cost is not possible for some families out there. What do those parents do? I'm picturing some poor exhausted people having to do school laundry every single night.
Something sucky that has seemed to be the case thus far is that the uniforms don't take the place of "regular" clothes, either - the kids still need just as many of those anyway, since they don't want to wear their uniforms outside of school, and you wouldn't let them even if they did (because then they'd be stained and worn out twice as fast).
Ok, I'm done.
Today was productive without being nuts (roasted chickens, sewed something for Annie, planned out/crafted/rehearsed their Mythologically Speaking presentations with them, grocery shopped, made an appt) and tomorrow is one of our ridiculous nonstop days. But then Friday is almost totally open, and next comes the weekend. For now, sleep sounds luscious.
Her preschool had a policy of "just" wearing the preschool's tshirts every day, with whatever bottoms you chose. They were $10 each. So I spent $50 for 5 tshirts for her at the beginning of the year, and then about $30 more throughout fall and winter because some of the originals got so stained up (since, you know, preschooler), and one just vanished. Then in February, I had to spend another $50 because the old shirts suddenly didn't fit anymore. While those costs are not the end of the world, I would straight up never normally spend $130 on tshirts for a 4 year old in one year! This is leaving aside the laundry nightmare of realizing you don't have a clean uniform shirt in the morning and always having to plan for this, or seeing something grimey on one that had just come out of the dryer, and losing your mind that 2 months into ownership you can only find 3 of the 5 shirts no matter how you tear the house apart.
I fantasized regularly about walking in there and dropping hundreds of dollars on shirts so it would never be a problem again. They were stacked up there all tantalizing, behind the desk by the door.
I'm looking at the prices for uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, now. Thinking, "WHAT?"
Lately, Ananda normally wears a mixture of stuff she's blatantly stolen from Laura and I (mostly things we don't fit in anymore anyway), 2 giant garbage bags of awesome expensive barely used stuff from her friend Mia, who was going away to college, a few things she's traded with her friend Izzy, Hot Topic shirts she buys herself with saved up allowance money when they're having special promotions, and things we've found at Goodwill. The only clothes I've really bought her new over the last couple of years are the one formal outfit she needs for orchestra performances, $4 blank shirts from craft aisles for her to paint her derby number on for bouts, and really nice socks, bras and underwear. Ok and there were tights and leggings in her Christmas stocking and they all get pajamas on Christmas Eve. You get the point.
How am I supposed to spend much on clothes for her, when we've went from making rent-to-own payments on her cello to financing her braces? We've replaced her skates, upgraded her knee pads and helmet, and taken her on 3 derby trips, this past year. Fancier clothes are obviously not a priority to her, since all she wants for every birthday is more books and art supplies.
Aaron, Isaac and Jake mostly wear trash bag loads of really nice (sometimes still new with tags) clothes from a family we know with three boys who are all a little older than our boys. This past December I did stock them all up when Old Navy was having an absolutely ridiculous sale - I got them something like a dozen outfits (combined) for around $200, to fill in the gaps in their wardrobes. Before that I can't remember the last time I bought them any new clothes but socks and underwear, except for Aaron's dance things, Isaac's cheerleading stuff, Halloween costume pieces, etc.
And also of course about $600 for Isaac's uniforms, for 3rd and 4th grade, counting things he outgrew mid-year in 3rd. I mean, damn!
The point is that I was looking at the required uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, and it's even worse than Isaac's school uniform prices. I mean the pants are $25 per pair, and on cold days their only outerwear options are a school hoodie or windbreaker that is $35, either way. Shorts are $22. There are like 5 styles of shirt, all $14-17. Those prices do NOT include getting the school's logo embroidered on all the tops (shirts and outerwear), which it has to be. I guess hey're not super unreasonable prices taken individually, but I'm sitting here thinking that even if I'm VERY modest (like 5 regular shirts, and one long sleeved, 3 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, and something for cold days, each) it's going to be $500. And I'm really not convinced that will be enough. And I'm damn well certain Aaron is going to outgrow everything I get him by Christmas and need all new stuff. Assuming he doesn't destroy the pants' knees long before that. AND I AM COMPLETELY SURE THAT AS SOON AS HE STARTS THEY'RE GOING TO SEND HOME A LIST OF DANCE CLOTHES AND SHOES HE NEEDS TO WEAR ONLY FOR THOSE HOURS OF THE DAY.
I honestly don't understand how mandated school uniforms can be legal at free public schools. I mean I've always been ideologically opposed to school uniforms regardless, although I'm less vehemently so now than I used to be, but really - I'm 100% sure the cost is not possible for some families out there. What do those parents do? I'm picturing some poor exhausted people having to do school laundry every single night.
Something sucky that has seemed to be the case thus far is that the uniforms don't take the place of "regular" clothes, either - the kids still need just as many of those anyway, since they don't want to wear their uniforms outside of school, and you wouldn't let them even if they did (because then they'd be stained and worn out twice as fast).
Ok, I'm done.
Today was productive without being nuts (roasted chickens, sewed something for Annie, planned out/crafted/rehearsed their Mythologically Speaking presentations with them, grocery shopped, made an appt) and tomorrow is one of our ridiculous nonstop days. But then Friday is almost totally open, and next comes the weekend. For now, sleep sounds luscious.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-04-16 08:27 pm (UTC)I do have a pretty negative view of our school board and it's administrators, that I honestly think you'd share if you lived here.
The racket thing was sort of a joke.