'[You] made us look like bad parents': Dad sends daughter to school in pajamas after she refuses to get dressed

Advertisement
  • 01
    r/AmltheAsshole u/Apprehensive-Sea6012 - 3h AITA for sending my daughter to school in her pyjamas?
  • 02
    My 7 year old daughter (Elsie) has recently started to make mornings more difficult by throwing a fit when we ask her to get dressed for school. We've tried setting her clothes out the night before but she still makes an issue out of it, and she doesn't want to sleep in her clothes so that's not an option either. my wife leaves for work before me, so I'm normally the one who has to deal with the tantrums in the morning.
  • 03
    I woke Elsie up, and as always, she refused to get dressed. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with her bs and I didn't have the energy to fight with her about it, so I told her that it was okay and I'll just take her to school in her pyjamas. She looked pretty shocked because I don't think it was the outcome she was expecting, but the rest of the morning went a lot smoother than normal.
  • 04
    We got in the car and she was more quiet than usual, so I could tell she wasn't really sure what to think of it. But after a while of driving, I guess the realization set in, and she told me she wanted to go home and change. I told her she had already made her decision and I wasn't driving her back home now. She started freaking out saying she wanted me to drive back home and she didn't want to go to school in her pyjamas. But I wasn't turning the car around, so we arrived at school and she even
  • 05
    After my wife came home from collecting her from school, she looked 1. She didn't say anything. in front of Elsie, but later in the evening, as expected, she went off on me. She started saying that I had embarrassed her and made us look like bad parents who can't be bothered to dress our daughter. I told her that I'm sure Elsie isn't the first child to go to school in pyjamas, and it's not the end of the world. And she wears normal clothes every other day, so one day in pyjamas isn't going to ma
  • 06
    BoredinDublin88 • 2h NTA, your daughter was testing boundaries and she learned the limit. If you had turned around she might have done the same the next day and started a new pattern. By sticking to your decision, in a harmless. environment when your daughter was in no danger, she learned a lesson about the consequences of her actions. Plenty of kids show up in pajamas, costumes, funky (cool, not funky smelly) clothes all the time. 47.7k ↓ ... ← Reply
  • 07
    Flat_Contribution707 • 2h Colo-rectal Surgeon [30] OP can also touch base with the teacher to fet an idea of how Elsie's pajama day went. G ... 4 1.9k
  • 08
    PANA Wren1101 2h Professor Emeritass [78] ● As a teacher, I see kids come in to school in pajamas all the time and it's not even an issue. Kids will come dressed in the most random clothes in elementary school and that's part of the joy of being that young haha. Hopefully now OP's daughter will actually consider what she WANTS to wear to school before she leaves the house. ... 4 1.8k 1.8k
  • 09
    Ijr55555. 2h I made our daughter wear her pajamas to school one day in the same situation as OP. I mean, I could have spent an hour of my life every morning fighting with my kid about clothes, getting her to school late, getting myself to work late. And everyone involved starting their day angry. That seemed like a horrible way to spend a year or twelve! So she refused to get dressed, I said fine let's get breakfast and go. We did. As with OP, I think my daughter started to take me seriously hal
  • 10
    She wasn't super humiliated. Just mildly embarrassed. She also didn't fight about getting dressed because I'd just say "ok, you're going with pajamas today?" And she knew I was serious. Unless OP's wife had some foolproof plan for reasoning with the kid so every morning wasn't a struggle... What was the alternative? A daily fight? Not going to school? I'm sure the teacher has two ideas of why a kid shows up in pajamas - fighting getting dressed or everyone overslept. Neither is exactly report th
  • 11
    ● CleverishGeneric • 3h Enthusiast [5] Nta. I'm not a fan of embarrassment as a form of punishment but I do believe in appropriate teachings that there are consequences to actions. You did not harm your daughter. She chose not to get dressed for her day and so her day progressed in the clothing she was in. Consequences to her actions. Reply 42.6K ...
  • 12
    Vmaclean1969 - 2h 100. I'd say there is change on their morning horizon because guess what? Accidentally she was taught a lesson. Lol Tantrums averted. ... 454
  • 13
    VoltesVoltron • 2h Enthusiast [8] NTA - My reasoning is as follows: you made it very clear to her that this was going to happen before you left home and she accepted this. True it wasn't until you reached school that reality set in for her but she isn't a toddler who can't think through consequences very well. I do note that the division here is between the people who think that this is a cruel humiliation and those who think it is a fair consequence for behavior. I imagine it will be very spli
  • 14
    ginger_ninja_88 • 2h And it was this comment that made me realize this is a 7 year old, and not a toddler we're discussing. YIKES. My goodness op, NTA. At 7, your daughter is (IMO) is a bit old for throwing daily tantrums over clothes...I fully thought this was a 4 year old until I went back and looked at the age. Also, it would be one thing if your wife was upset because your daughter spent the day embarrassed and uncomfortable with her clothing choices...but it seems like your wife's main conc
  • 15
    homenomics23 - 1h At 7 - this kid would have probably been at school for 1-2 years already, as well as 1-2 years of kindergarten/preschool AND possibly 1-2 years of day care/child care. If by the time they're in school itself, they don't understand or want to dress for it, that's entirely on the kid to own those consequences. Maybe there's something going on that the kid is trying to delay changing or going to school (ie: bullying, dislikes their school/teacher, maybe they don't like their cloth
  • 16
    JustThePoolGuy 1997. 3h I don't think you're the but I would have brought a backup set of clothes for her in case she decided to change in the car before school Reply ... 956
  • 17
    Cappa_Cail 2h THIS! also give the school and her teacher a heads up. This isn't their first rodeo and I'm sure this has happened before. Let your wife know, next time this happens what the plan is (pack clothes, alert school). However at this point, your daughter is old enough to remember you are serious when you tell her to get ready for school. Cudos to your wife for waiting till after your daughter was in bed to talk to you. You two have to be a united parenting front. Laying out her clothes
  • 18
    ● Unfair_Finger5531 · 1h Enthusiast [8] Teacher here. I would have known immediately why she was in her pajamas lololololol. I would have assumed it was a around and find out situation. 4368

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article