One of the hardest things when your kids enter elementary school (which continues until they graduate high school!) is keeping track of everything school-related. Until my oldest started school I didn’t realize how many fundraisers and things there were. Different themed dress days, bring in certain things on certain days (just forgot something for Shane due April 1st!) and with more than 1 kid and when working full time it’s a lot to keep track of.
One thing I can remember is that my sons’ school has themed days every Friday. So I know when getting their clothes out for Friday to check the calendar for the theme of the week. Usually there’s at least one spirit day which is easy because they have Alexander shirts and their school colors are green and white and we have lots of Eagles gear. Holiday themes are also easy.
Last week’s theme was “wear a kindness shirt.” I need to inform you that I am a consignment sale fanatic which is not surprising because I’ve always been a bargain shopper. What is nice about these sales is finding specific clothes you need for certain holidays or certain characters your kids may like.
At a recent sale I found a kindness shirt (shirt says let’s be kind to each other every day) which I got remembering they had a kindness day and now we have the perfect shirt for the day. But that’s one shirt only covering one child and I have two in school now.
So the scramble to find another “kindness shirt” began. In going through the boys drawers their shirts consisted of Mario, Sonic and Ninja Turtles often racing or battling. We also have a lot of shark and dinosaur shirts featuring these creatures eating. I then begin thinking oh no all I have for my boys is violent shirts.
I also have sarcastic shirts like T-Rex hates push-ups, a pickle shirt that says I’m kind of a big dill and a Peter Pan shirt that says I’m so fly I never land, a shirt my husband also owns. We also have a lot of sports shirts including many of our favorite Philadelphia teams.
I begin thinking I have no “kind” or nice shirts. What the heck can Shane wear? I did find a Big Hero 6 shirt with Baymax that said “Find your inner hero.” Baymax is kind and I would say that was a theme present throughout the very underrated Disney movie. So we almost went with that.
Then I remembered I had a shirt that said “Security: Little Sister Protection Squad.” Being a protective older brother is definitely an act of kindness so now both boys have their shirts for kindness day.
As moms we do a lot for our kids, a lot which is overlooked. Trust me when I say just getting daily outfits out is a job in itself especially with all the different themed days of school. It’s also a lot to remember so take it easy when you forget.
Signed the one mom who forgot Field Day last June and had the only kid not dressed in green in the class.
