A woman I know at my school job, has a son in kindergarten, and she's always getting on his case about getting his pants dirty and keeps threatening to not let him play football anymore, because he always gets dirty. Is it realistic to expect boys to stay pristinely clean, or should she lighten up a bit? I have seen plenty of boys with dirty knees at school. I don't know if it's possible for boys to play and stay clean. I don't have boys, though, and my kids did get dirty, but not that dirty. My messes were more food spilled on shirts than dirty knees.

I always want to tell her to chill and let her son have fun. One time it was the pants her son had gotten from Grandma and she got really upset, when the khakis got dirty.

In my house, my mom wouldn't let us wear the white tights to school; they were only worn to church, or other special occasions.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:03 pm:

JMHO, but she needs to lighten up! My kids don't get too dirty, but I don't get upset if they do. My goodness, that's part of childhood. We save nice clothes for nice occasions, not school or play.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:06 pm:

Well, exactly! LOL! That's what I thought, too!

By Vicki on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:07 pm:

I agree she needs to lighten up. Isn't that what the washing machine and stain remover is for??

By Melanie on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:37 pm:

I agree that she needs to relax about it. When my kids get dirty I just tell them it's a good thing they are washable!

By Kate on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:45 pm:

It depends on how dirty he's getting and how often it occurs. If he's getting stained knees every single day I'd be annoyed, too! If he wants to play so rough he should wait until after school when he can change into play clothes. To play that hard during school that he then spends the rest of school in dirty clothes isn't a great thing. If this is the case, he's ruining all his school clothes and always looking unkempt. It's frustrating to spend all that money on clothes only to have them ruin them so quickly.

Now, if he's coming home and changing into playclothes and going out and getting dirty, that's fine. Altho, it's not MY cup of tea!! I don't like putting filthy things into my washing machine and I still wouldn't like my child looking like a mess all the time. I have girls, though, and while they have pretty much have free rein and play in tights and dresses, they don't get dirty. I assume it's because they play on swingsets and ride bikes. They don't play roll around on the ground games.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:46 pm:

Just my not so humble opinion - she really ought to lighten up. And stop putting clothes on the boy that she worries about. That's why they make blue jeans. And little girls ought to be allowed to get dirty too.

By Tripletmom on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 06:52 pm:

LOL Ginny-That is all I let Katie where these days.She gets soooooo dirty.Anything my child wears to school has grass stains on them when she comes home.With snowpants soon approaching I'll get about 5mths where she'll actually look really prettyLOL

By Dawnk777 on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 07:09 pm:

We're talking just a little grime on the knees. It's not like he was filthy from head-to-toe. They were playing ball games and it involved rolling on the ground.

By Bellajoe on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 07:47 pm:

I agree that she needs to chill.

she shouldn't send him to school or out to play in clothes she doesn't want to get dirty. Like i always say "boys will be boys"

I figure if they come inside with dirt on their clothes, that means they have been having FUN! (unless of course they fell i the dirt)

By Debbie on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 08:24 pm:

Well, I have 2 boys that are 6 and 8, they ALWAYS come home with dirty knees. This is why they make stain remover. I am never without Zout(only stain remover that gets out grass stains) I also don't pay a lot for their pants. They wear jeans, which I usually get on sale, and track pants to school. I only put them in good clothes when we go out somewhere, or to church.

So, I say she needs to lighten up.

By Nicki on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 08:27 pm:

I think any child who enjoys physical activity should be encouraged. Sending the little guy in fancy clothes would not be my approach. I have a very active little four year old girl, and although I entertained thoughts of bows and tights and dresses, this is not my girl! She gets dirty easily because she is very active and loves anything physical. So I put her in comfortable clothes that wash and wear easily. Like Patti, I can tell how much fun Lara has had by the condition of her clothes!:-) She may look unkept at times, but she's happy.
Dawn, like you, I'd have a hard time with this mom. Poor little guy.:-(

By Dawnk777 on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 09:53 pm:

I had grass stains to deal with, and dirty butts on things, that I know I never really got clean again. They all survived!

Besides, Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus always said to "get messy" and "make mistakes!"

Maybe not playing football on the grass, but once I forgot to tell my kids to add the flour to cookie dough S-L-O-W-L-Y! LOL! Picture flour flying all over the kitchen! Of course, they'll never do that again! It's such second nature to me, to add it gradually, that I forgot to tell them.

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 10:16 pm:

I raised 3 boys-never clean. They always seemed to look like they'd just rolled in the dirt and stuck their faces into a chocolate pie.

Girly girl little dd is in K and always seems to have dirty knees and bottom. I think it just means they've been having fun. Isn't that what childhood should be? JMHO

By Dawnk777 on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 10:30 pm:

That's what I think it should be. LOL!

By Breann on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 12:11 am:

Fast forward 20 years in this kids life:

A) My mom always got mad when we would get dirty, so we were always worried about our clothes while the other kids were having fun.

B) I had a lot of fun growing up. I played hard and had a really great time.

I think that she needs to "chill" too

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 12:30 am:

Having dirty knees doesn't mean the child is rolling around in the mud. He could have gotten dirty knees from inside on the floor at school! Especially in P.E.!!!

I expect nothing less from either of my kids than grass stains on the knees. And I don't even bother putting anything remotely nice on them in the summer unless we are getting ready to go out. My kids are definitely "take a bath every night" type of kids when it is warm outside because they enjoy being outdoors so much. My dd is always on the ground looking for a bug! LOL!

I am thrilled when kids are getting dirty outside. It means they are getting exercise and having fun doing it! My little one was a mess the day he broke his collarbone, but he sure did have fun doing it!

School isn't a place for kids to wear their nicest clothes. You never know when they are going to be doing a messy project, or anything. Our school even tells parents at the beginning of the school year to let your kids wear play clothes to school.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 07:56 am:

Kids do get messy at school. I see plenty of markered-up hands, eating lunch! LOL!

By Cocoabutter on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 08:01 am:

Boys are SUPPOSED to get dirty!

By Marcia on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 10:33 am:

Not just boys, all kids should have enough fun to get dirty!! One of my girls can't go an entire winter without wearing out the knees of her snowpants. Her jeans always have dirt on the knees. I'm happy to see it, because it tells me she's had fun.
When I worked in a daycare, I always told the parents that they shouldn't send the kids in anything that couldn't get dirty. While we did use smocks during messy times, kids still get dirty. Big deal!
Yes, that's what jeans are for. My girls are almost always in jeans at school.

By Dana on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 12:18 pm:

I feel dirty is good if wearing your play clothes. My DD, who is very active, never really got dirty because she was the only child and there were no children in the neighborhood. Then one day, she had a friend she could play with from across the street. It was a boy, LOL. It was the first time in her entire life (she was in 1st grade) that she was covered in dirt from head to toe. I laughed so hard and I felt so good about her dirt. Finally she really PLAYED! She even had a "dirt necklace." DD remembers that day still, mainly because I was so happy that she found a way to get that dirty playing.

Now, DS, he's not even 2 yet, and he's been getting filthy from the get go, right down to the dirt necklace. It does my heart good.

By Missbookworm on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 12:48 pm:

I agree with those who say kids should have enough fun to get dirty. If you don't want their clothes dirty and worn out then get them clothes that they can do that in! My boy always ends up with holes in his jeans! I've even been told "sometimes your kids look "scruffy". Heck they're kids and they're having fun, who cares if they don't look completely pressed and clean all the time!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 02:41 pm:

There's enough times, when they do need to be pressed and clean. Otherwise, they should be able to play.