Pretty dress & outside play

[apples and bananas]

Same over here. If they come dressed all pretty, I might make a comment at the door when they're dropped off. "oh, what a pretty dress, we'll have to be extra careful at the sand table today" lol And they go home just the way they came. One ruined dress should be enough. My clients have all said to me, the dirtier they come home, the better. I believe in kids being kids. I'm not going to stress myself out over someone getting some dirt on their dress.

[Dreamalittledream]

I honestly think it's a bias on my part; boys clothes are all meant to be rough and tumble...but the girls with their frilly white sweaters...I shudder I used to send my child off and loved his muddy, messy self at the end of the day...as michellesmunchkins said...how much fun are they having if they go home sparkling clean?

[sunnydays]

I'm the same as everyone here. My own daughter wears dresses sometimes because she loves them (and I have two boys, so now that I have a girl, I want to put her in dresses..lol). But, I don't care if she gets them dirty and the don't get in her way of playing at all. All the kids wear splash pants for spring fall, but other than that, I don't worry about getting their clothes dirty. I do have painting smocks that I use for painting though because I don't want to ruin clothes unnecessarily.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Yup - you play in whatever you came in - as long as it does not pose a RISK ... aka I have removed costume jewellery and other 'bobbles' from clothes to avoid them getting caught in climbing equipment.

I have little 'princesses' here who like to dress up - however their parents have no issue with them getting dirty usually the 'dresses' that get sent here are the ones they are about to 'grow out of' so they are getting their last use out of them anyway.

A must for me is RUNNING SHOES though ... if you want to wear little dance shoes in the car here fine but for outdoor PLAY you best have proper fitting shoes conducive to safe feet ... same with closed toes sandals please !

[Momof4]

In my first few years in business I had parents sending their children in nice white or pink clothing and I guess I have an evil streak because I would point them directly for the blackest mud possible. The parents learn quickly when you do that. Now I warn the parents every couple of months in my newsletter that clothing worn to daycare must stand up to mud, all creative mediums and all food because we have FUN!

I do insist that splashpants are left at the daycare all year round which helps protect them but you can't use those when it gets too hot.

[mom-in-alberta]

I would say that as long as you have mentioned to the parents that you won't be held responsible for dirty/mangled dresses and tights.... just play on!!
I also have one of those girlie-girls. She would wear "long, long pretty dresses" every day if I let her. And as someone else said; at least they get worn enough times to feel like you get value out of them!
I actually have a section in my handbook that discusses appropriate clothing for daycare, and that I cannot promise they will be clean and shiny at the end of the day. I tell parents to bring extra clothing if they anticipate going somewhere "special" at pick up.
I am with Reggio on footwear, though. If Little Miss was showing up in frou-frou shoes that she couldn't play in, I would be asking parents to ensure that she has PROPER shoes to play in!!

[Play and Learn]

Parents HAVE to leave at my home: rain boots, splash pants, and a rain coat, plus mitts/hat. IF they choose not to provide me with these items, then their kids get dirty.

If the kids clothes get dirty, then tough - they're kids, they're not hurt!? If they complain to me, then I just show them my list of items to keep at daycare.

I don't mind having the little ones dressed up - I think it's cute. I have special days where they can get dressed up without having to worry about getting dirty. Kinda like a PJ Day!

[Sarah]

As a parent who did send her kids to daycare in the previous years:

I have 2 boys and a girl. One of my boys is always wearing jeans with freaking holes, the other one likes to be clean, even sometimes wearing a tie. My girl is 4 and I let her decide what she wears (except for the clean dress that I want to keep for special occasion). So she was going to daycare dressed up like a princess, she loves to wear dresses and skirts...etc...

The dcp would freak out, asking me to dress her in pants. But I really didn't care about her getting in the mud. Was it a saafety issue? no! than it's alright with me. I only required my daughter to wear appropriate shoes, not the kind of shoes you wear with the dresses you know!

As a daycare provider:

Parents are warned. I let the kids be kids. I will not start to stop them from having fun because of clothes! I used to only have dcb, but now I have a dcg, and her parents started to send her in nice outfits (because of own my daughter was dressed up). They stopped after 3-4 times! hahaha! My daughter won't get too dirty, but their daughter seems to attract dirt like a magnet! hahahah!!!

So let that girl get dirty! That's mu conclusion

[Emily3]

I have a little girl and must admit that since day one I have been addicted to buying her amazing clothes!! It is so funny for anyone that knows me as I am the leisure suit queen and am lucky if my hair gets brushed! She is too young to pick her own clothes so when she is dressed nicely, it is solely for me!! I don't care if she gets filthy ( and she is very much a tomboy), she will grow out of things so fast I'd rather she wore them and got dirty then have them hanging in her closet! I tell parents that their children 'will' get dirty here so no one is surprised at the little grubs they pick up at the end of the day!

[Momof4]

I remember my 3 girls going through so many stages when they were little, all dresses, no dresses, just pants, all pink, all purple, all black - teenagers! Anyway, no matter if the little girls are going through an all dresses stage, the parents had better buy cheap not expensive because at daycare fun means messy sometimes.