The First Day of School Dress

Someone questioned the fact the I'm sewing a "first day of school" dress for Monkey1 when she's not going to school. As if we are going to homeschool in our pajamas!

First of all, Monkey1 is definitely a get-dressed kind of girl. She gets up in the morning, and she gets dressed, usually in a dress, and then she comes to tug on my arm, "I'M HUNGRY!" By the way, there's no secret I can share on getting your child to do the same. Monkey1 has always been interested in selecting her own clothes. Monkey2, however, could, and does, wear her nightgowns all day.

Secondly, new clothes and special clothes mark important days. Baptismal gowns, First Communion dresses (she's seen some of her older cousins), wedding dresses... and so, school is important and worthy of a special dress. A dress made by Mom.

Thirdly, we're not staying home to school every day. Once a week we will be schooling with a community called Classical Conversations. Tonight our CC group had a Pasta Night for all the families. The kids played, the grown-ups talked, we all ate, more playing and talking, then ice cream before good-night. Sharing a meal and getting to know the other parents, also near the beginnings of their homeschool adventure, I felt so much more at ease than I ever felt last year standing in the parking lot with the other preschool mothers. Truly, I felt like an impostor there. For all my uncertainty on how homeschooling will pan out, I'm glad we have this chance to try it.

So, the first day of school dress.

For some reason Monkey1 got in her head that she wanted a dinosaur print.
At the fabric store I found one bolt of dinosaurs on flannel.
Monkey1 was horrified. "They're green!"
"They're dinosaurs," I pointed out, "They're either going to be green or brown."
She changed her mind in favor of what she called an aquarium print, with colorful dolphins, turtles, and octopuses.
So my treadle Singer is singing away.

The first day of school is September 1st.

(Of course, I am also working on a first day of preschool dress for Monkey2. As she requested, her dress will feature pink elephants.)