Uniform Escapades

When we signed Aurora up for school I was quite glad that she had a school uniform - as is the case with most schools here. Jakob's parents were quick to remind me that uniforms were not all fun and games. There is a downside to repressing social expression through clothing and obliterating diversity. And while the argument against school uniforms is a valid one I still just like them and am happy to report that Aurora so far does not seem to be suffering from this particular infringement on her individualism. And it is so simple in the mornings to not have to choose what to wear. The children all look so studious and lovely. They all look like they are on the same team and could burst out in song of times tables at any minute. Some schools are especially oppressive (generally the Catholic ones) and impose even stricter uniform guidelines - all girls have to have their hair in the same colored ribbons, all accessories must be issued from school shops to ensure uniformity, all shoelaces must be the same length). Aurora's school is much more lenient and children are often wearing their own sweaters of runners and it's sad to say but I wish they wouldn't because it's not as cute. I went to the school dance and I saw all the same children in the clothes they chose to put on and they were all full of movie characters and frills and random articles that appeared piled on top of each other and it didn't look nearly as cheery.

This week though we had to deal with one of the disadvantages of uniforms as Aurora lost her sweater somewhere at school. First, there was the issue of her not having a sweater in the appropriate colors and having to wear contraband to school. Then there was the issue of finding the sweater. Yes there is a lost and found, but, the thing is that it is just a large pile of red sweaters. And then there are all the red sweaters hidden in various spots around the yard. And all the red sweaters on hooks along all the hallways. All of this was overwhelming to Aurora who came home empty handed two days in a row. Finally, I decided the situation was complex enough that I had to step in. Actually, I was also pretty excited to play the real life version of Where's Waldo. So we walked around the yard picking up sweaters and we took a family trip to the lost and found. Aurora glanced and the mountain of red sweaters and said "none of those are mine" with such confidence that I couldn't help but laugh and ask "Uhm how do you know?" To which she replied "they don't look fluffy enough". Bear in mind that all the sweaters are identical. She reached into the pile and grabbed a sweater and said "See mine was way fluffier than this." And then I made her look at the tag and of course that first sweater she pulled out of the pile which could not possibly be hers had her name written on it. Thank goodness I actually paid attention to the parent instruction and wrote her name in the sweater! And so the anti-uniform contingency scores another unexpected point.

This is what happens when children decide what to wear - under the monkey suit are pyjamas

Look how nicely the children all match the play structure and school!

Jakob sent me this from his work trip to Darwin- doesn't seem like sweaters figured much into his week