Pushed for time or just lazy?

It's not the place of the Headteacher to tell people what to wear , but I think she's right in this case, I live on a main road and see women going past all the time in pyjamas, I've also seen people in pyjamas in Asda, there's a girl in my area who takes her little girls aged about 4 and 5 to the shop in the afternoon and they have their pyjamas on! It's ridiculous, my Dad would have had a fit if I'd went out in pyjamas, and my 2 girls would have never been allowed out in pj's by their Dad or I. It's different jumping in the car with coat on top of nightie, everyone's done something like that, I used to stick clothes on top of nightie to take my dog out quick when he was a pup, but you couldn't see it. If someone went out in nightclothes when I was young you would have thought there was something wrong with them! No! get your clothes on to go out!

I knew someone who would roll up her silk pyjamas, tuck them into some knee-high suede boots, throw a fabulous coat over all, amazing scarf draped just so, hair in a ponytail, with big dark glasses and red lips! She could look like she had just stepped out of Vogue. She would then step into a luxurious bath when back home. I agree with Jinglbellsfrocks. I think if parents are just dropping kids off it is perfectly fine. I much prefer that to the dress-up competition of Mums at the school gate!! I'd much rather they spent the time providing a good quality breakfast to enable those little brains to work at their finest.

In Liverpool I have seen Mothers in PJs, but with full makeup, including marker pen eyebrows! God forbid they should be seen out with no makeup, so it isn't laziness but just a fad.

All of you have to admit this is just plain lazy.
School started at 8.50 for my bunch and I had 5 to get ready for school, but I always made sure I was fully dressed and tidy to take them to school. It meant getting up early but it was worth it I felt so much better, fresh and ready for the day.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I agree with the head teacher 100%!
It's laziness, pure and simple! In an emergency, I can understand parents dragging trousers and a top on over pyjamas, but to do it regularly is disgusting!
It's certain that these layabouts don't have a shower and put their nightwear back on, so they're stinking too!
The poor children of such slovenly, slatternly parents are being brought up to believe that gutter standards are acceptable, so what can we expect from them in the future?
Maybe if these idle twonks got their backs off their mattresses earlier, got clean and dressed, and had some pride in themselves, they'd want to work, thereby encouraging their children to have some pride in themselves!
My grandparents both worked full time and raised four children, not many mums worked in 1931, but the work ethic is very important in our family. My parents both worked full time, DH and I always worked full time, and never once were any of us taken to school by nightwear clad parents, nor were we ever late for school!
The school in question is in an area with a lot of social housing and high unemployment, but that's no excuse for such disgustingly dirty and ignorant behaviour! Soap and water doesn't cost much!

This story shows that there is still a dividing line between those who know there are standards and those who imagine they can get away with what they want. Who would employ a woman who conducts public business in clothes only to be seen in the privacy of their own home? And who would employ that woman's daughter.

Thomas Hardy spoke of 'What everyone thinks and nobody says' and this 'pyjama saga' is an issue where it is relevant. If you are condoning this pajama'd woman's lack of awareness and behaviour you don't know the rules either.

To go off the point somewhat.....I think the headteacher in question should look at the grammar in her letter to the parents. I know I'm a pedant of the first order!

Reminds me of a friend, in 60s, who drove her husband to the train station each morning. One day , he left his brief case in the car,she found it and ran the length of the platform in baby doll pyjamas.!

This brings back memories! I remember, as a girl, being taken with friends to pick fruit at a local farm, for pocketmoney in the holidays. The friends' mother drove us there in her pyjamas and dressing gown. I remember all of us being horrified when she got out of the car and inspected the fields before she left us to it, leaving us red-faced and embarrassed, while the other fruitpickers laughed their heads off!
PS Taking your children to school in your pyjamas is so lazy! GillT57 is right - how long does it take to pull on a tracksuit?

I expect pyjama manufacturers are now poised to flood the market with garments designed so you can take the kids to school/do the housework/weekly shop/visit the dentist/ cook the evening meal etc., etc., and when you've done all that you can watch the telly before shuffling off to bed.

At some point you may need to take a shower but if you keep them on you can wash them at the same time.

No it doesn't take long to get dressed, I have arthritis in all my bones and joints plus Fibromyagia, and I still got dressed to take my two , to school, (One is now 21 and working, the other is 17 and at college) They would have been mortified, It never crossed my mind, not to get dressed!!
Though now, I wear lounge pants, if I am not going out, and dress in jeans etc , when I go out! It is just laziness!!

It seems that all the pyjama wearing parents all have 'rights' but havn't yet grasped that they also have responsibilities and that they cannot have one without the other.

Good for the Headmistress. I was amazed that mums could be so slovenly and setting such a bad role model for theirs and others children. There seems to be a downward spiral regarding dress code these days. surely the watchword is to dress appropriately. So it doesn't mean a couture turnout, just ordinary clothes, hair brushed but not necessarily makeup. Perhaps this will be a wake up call to many people and not just mums on school run. Cannot ever imagine going to a school assembly in pyjamas!!

Wearing pyjamas would suggest that washing had not been executed. whereas a jogging suit would probably mean cleanliness and that underwear had been applied. So fine if it means getting the children to school on time.

I hold my hand up to being utterly hopeless in the morning but I NEVER took my c hildren or grandchildren to school without being properly dressed. However I confess to the jimjams and Hunters nowadays to feed the chickens, put out the washing and tend the pool. I'm often still like that at midday now that I don't have to do the dreaded school run. But never in public and I do live in deepest rural France with no-one to see me and at 66 think I can get away with that.

Single mother 6am start to get her child to child minder to get to job 18 miles away that starts at 8 some people don't know they are born. Judge and ye shall not be judged

Not a great example to kids shouting they don't want to get dressed in the monrning! Think parents ought to set some standards and show a little respect. It takes five minutes to grab some clothes and get a quick wash. I had to drop my kids off for the school bus seven miles away at 7.30am and then go straight to work. If I had my pjs on they would have died of embarrassment and so would I!

Having said that, I did once pick up my husband very late at night wearing my pjs under my coat. Just got out of a warm bed....... spent the whole journey terrified the car broke down!

I know quite a few single parents who don't drive and have to take their children to school. Most of them also have to dash off from school to work again using the bus. Those mothers have to get dressed but they make the time to do it. It can be done and in some cases must be done.

And if mothers have the use of a car clearly that gives them a lot more time and choice in the morning before talking their kids to school.

So really I think mothers wearing pyjamas to drop their children off at school is rather unnecessary and unseemly. My mother would never have been seen outdoors in her nightwear and as a schoolchild I wouldn't have wanted my pals to see my mum in her pyjamas or nightgown.

Hi I made my comment before reading yours and I agree with you 100%.
My mother always made sure we had clean underwear on before going outdoors and she had to walk us to school. So I can't help wondering if mothers in PJ's are observing some basic hygiene standards when they go out with their children.

ginbins so does that single mother carry on to work in her jimjams?

I should think most of us have started at 6 am or even earlier; getting 5 lots of packed lunches ready, breakfast for 6 people, helping elderly relative to wash and dress, children ready for school, shower, dress and off to work dropping youngest on the way.
And I am not a morning person as Snoopy said.

merlotgran

I am worrying now that the baggy, colourful cotton pants I used to pull on last summer together with a toning t shirt could be mistaken for pjs if I take DGC to school

Well, I once took my daughter (who was five at the time) to school in her nightie! She refused to get dressed, and I had a three-year-old and was heavily pregnant. It was winter and I eventually just shoved boots and a coat on her over her nightwear and marched her off to school! We lived in Belgium at the time, and the teacher at the local school must have thought 'These foreigners!' It didn't happen again (and she's a wonderful mum now, though her son refuses to remove his dinosaur pyjamas in the morning!)

My young neighbour jumps in her car to take 2 youngsters to school about 10 min walk at most ,everyday all she has on is pjs witha dressing gown on.if she ever had an accident at least she would be ready for hospital !!

No we don't want children worrying and getting neurotic about what they are wearing however we have a lot of "academies" in our area and they enforce a strict dress code.

Within that dress code there is a big difference between those parents who make the effort to send their children out the door well dressed with shiny shoes, and those parents who don't provide that care for their children. Kids with a shoddy appearance who sometimes are seen wearing filthy worn trainers are picked on at school and will soon develop neurosis , depression, low self esteem.

And its a pity that a headteacher has to ask adults to get dressed before they bring their children to school but unfortunately that's the situation.

There is no excuse for filthy.

When I was a young mum the only people spotted in nightwear (the clue is there), during the day were adventurous patients from the local psychiatric hospital.

I have always had a self-imposed rule about early morning rituals and I maintain it to this day. My rule is never to go downstairs before washing/showering/bathing; dressing in clean clothes; cleaning teeth; putting on make-up. For you never know when George Clooney might pop in ...

(Breakfast is a separate issue, as these days DH brings me tea and fruit in bed! But that's another story).

This ritual started when I was quite young as I loved wearing crisp white school shirts and equally white cotton socks. We weren't allowed make-up at school but in our teens some of us did sneak a bit of that vile Panstick stuff on our non-existent spots. We just wanted to look nice.

I don't care if other people want to slob about in PJs all day or stand on their heads or watch daytime television or live on crisps and coke, but I prefer to face the day looking and feeling "ready for anything". I suppose it's to do with self respect as well as respect for others.

But I wouldn't blame a harassed Mum for dashing out in her dressing gown if it meant getting the children to school on time or dealing with a medical emergency. So I don't judge others. I only judge myself.