The Story Behind the First Day of School Outfit

Ella looked so cute on her first day of Kindergarten, didn’t she? Let me tell you, it was a long, uphill battle getting to the cute. For a few weeks leading up to Kindergarten the prospect of her looking cute, or even presentable, for her first day of school was dismal. She had her own ideas about what she wanted to wear–and I had a completely different idea.

It all started sometime in July as I was started to get her fired up for Kindergarten.

“…And we’ll have a girls day and get our toes painted before school starts!” I told her enthusiastically. “Then we’ll go shopping and find a cute new shirt for school.”

“Okay, but Mom? I already know what I want to wear for school. I want to wear my elephant shirt!”

Oh, the elephant shirt. It sounds harmless, right? It sounds like it has cute-potential. It seems like one of those battles that I probably shouldn’t pick? Well, you would be wrong. The elephant shirt is this old, ratty, stained shirt from a certain big box discount store. It’s size 3T and even on tiny Ella, is way too small, nearly showing her belly. It’s a shirt that’s perfect for a day playing in the dirt or painting, but not for the first day of Kindergarten.

Nevermind that the elephant shirt is her favorite shirt. I hate to squash the emerging fashionista, and I swear that I’m not a fashion tyrant, but I responded with a hearty, “Uh, no. No. And no. You can’t wear the elephant shirt on your first day of Kindergarten.” This was one fashion battle that I was going to win.  I’ve learned to not argue with Ella about what she wears. She is a girl with very specific tastes about her clothes and I’ve accepted that even though it sometimes kills me a little when she refuses to wear a dress, but on this occasion, I just had to put my foot down.

If you have a child, particularly a daughter, who has specific ideas about their clothes, then I’m sure you can imagine how well Ella responded. I’ll give you a hint: Not Well. She cried. She pouted. She whined. She almost annoyed me enough that I strongly considered giving in.

“But Mommy! It’s my favorite!”

“Ella!” I insisted, “I’m offering to buy you a brand new shirt! Who doesn’t like new shirts?!”

This went on for probably longer than it should have (weeks), but I held firm. No way could I allow her to attend her first day of school in that elephant shirt. She finally relented when I took (okay, dragged) her shopping and we found a pink shirt with birdies and flowers that she agreed to wear it for her first day of school. Victory was mine!

I’m sure you can guess what she wore for her second day of Kindergarten. Whatever.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of me from my first day of first grade. I’m the one on the right and I’m wearing my most favorite Hawaiian shirt with blue slacks. Slacks!  So much more presentable than the elephant shirt, that’s for sure. Too bad there’s no picture of me holding my Dukes of Hazzard lunch box.

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Thanks so much to Hallmark for inviting me to be a part of their Life is a Special Occasion campaign this year. While I am compensated for my work, I love getting to share these special occasions. Because life truly is a special occasion, each and every moment.

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