Sunday, December 02, 2007

My name is Daisy, I dress like a dork, and it's okay.

I admit it. Contrary to BlogHer advice from the fashionable Susan, I wear holiday themed clothing. I do. And I wear it to work.
Regular readers know that I am willing and able to sport the Green and Gold at home and in public, from head to toe.
As for the holiday themed clothing, we elementary teachers do wear "fun" clothes to school at times. I wore a sweatshirt with an appropriate message ("I do know all the answers, but I'm sworn to secrecy") on opening day of state testing. Every year I dig out my December clothing to wear in between Packer games. My students enjoy it, and yes, so do I.
One of my coworkers walked into the lounge last year, turned off the lights, and shimmied to show us her light-up Christmas Tree necklace. When the lights came back on, she announced with glee, "Working in an elementary school give you an excuse to dress like a dork!" We all looked down at our chests, realized it was true, and laughed out loud.
My "clients" are nine and ten years old. My room decor, or my "workspace" decor, acknowledges the season without going wild. I do not have a tree, for example, but I have a few snowy pictures and December trivia posted at key spots in the room. By recognizing the topic on their minds (Santa! Presents! Snow! Cookies! Fun!) but not going overboard, I can keep the kids relatively calm during this somewhat-frenzied month. By dressing myself in the Holiday Spirit, I let them know that it's okay to be excited, as long as they continue to work hard and keep learning.
Don't worry, fashionistas, I don't plan to post pictures.
Tomorrow, I plan to wear my Grinch pin on a basic sweater (budget cuts = cold classroom on Monday mornings). Maybe I'll slip the black socks with shiny white snowmen into my black Mary Jane shoes. Subtle? Maybe not, but it works in my field.
And dorky or not, that's good enough for me.

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6 Comments:

Blogger Jill said...

I will admit that I own a holiday sweater and I have worn it... but only when I visit my small town family, never for a city outing. I'm a closeted holiday sweater wearer ;-)

12/02/2007 9:35 PM  
Blogger Maddy said...

Personally I think dressing like a dork should be compulsory, then I'd blend in so much better.
Cheers
Something peculiar has happened to blogger comments so just for now, this is my calling card "Whittereronautism"so we can find each other.

12/03/2007 12:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I cannot imagine working with children all day and dressing "fashionably." Three cheers for the state testing sweatshirt:) It's the folks who dress like dorks who make me smile, so my mug's up to you. Glad I discovered your blog.

12/04/2007 10:32 AM  
Blogger Janssen said...

I like fun socks too! My sister's boyfriend once saw that I was wearing some sort of patterned socks and said "You're just like your sister- you won't wear any boring white socks!"

12/04/2007 9:54 PM  
Blogger Scribbit said...

Heh, "sworn to secrecy" heh. :)

12/04/2007 11:41 PM  
Blogger Sheila said...

If I was a teacher, I would do the same! My kids love it when their teachers dress in the spirit of things!

12/05/2007 9:51 AM  

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