I’m sure that the first person who said, “hey, let’s let the kids wear pajamas to school!” was a wonderful person.  I’m sure they thought “won’t they be so cute,sitting on the floor, reading their little books?”.   Or while watching Polar Express perhaps?  I mean, how could there be a distraction?  It’s not like they’re wearing costumes or something, they’re just pajamas, right?  Wrong.

You see, you can’t just wear pajamas.  You have to wear slippers.  And maybe a robe.  With a belt.  And as a teacher, if you don’t wear pajamas, you have kids asking you all day why you didn’t.  Literally.  Most of the teachers are wearing what I call “happy pants” and a t-shirt.  Some actually go out and buy a pair of jammies just to wear at school pajama days because what they wear to bed at home might not be appropriate at school.  Oh, I tried it once about 15 years ago.  I bought the little matching pajamas top and bottoms with big lady bug slippers, so cute for my Kindergartners.  That was the last time I ever did that.

You know, there’s a reason that pajamas are comfy for adults and that’s because we don’t have to wear all the undergarments with them.  At school, I might as well be wearing what I usually wear since I’m pretty sure my administration might frown upon not wearing undergarments under the pj’s.  One little first grade boy shared with me that he didn’t wear pajamas today because all he does at home is just take off his shirt and pants and sleep in his underwear (the final portion of this tale whispered so nobody could hear him) and he didn’t think he should do that at school.

And can we talk slippers?  They’re not appropriate to play outside for recess, they slide on linoleum floors and they’re just really distracting.  Like the boy with the wolf slippers with the claws?  He and several boys around him had a grand old time playing with them instead of listening to directions today.  No, it’s not distracting.

As adults, we are under the mistaken impression that if we just reveal to the students that we are aware of the potential distraction of the bedtime attire and we know they’ll do their best despite this potential distraction and all will be well.  It’s a lot like that definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again but hoping for different results.  Look, some of them don’t behave in jeans and t-shirts, and we think wearing pajamas is not going to be a problem?  Just because we say it doesn’t mean they’re going to behave the way we think they should and honestly, we’re not helping them by allowing them to wear them in the first place.

It’s not like casual Friday for the adults.  I can still do my job while wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  Today I saw a little girl who had taken her robe, in a very creative way and turned it into some kind of couture cape to drape behind her pj’s.  Something like Amal Clooney wore to the Met Gala this year.  (Look it up – you’ll see what I mean).  Really creative but my mind goes to things like, what is it picking up from the cafeteria and bathroom floors?

Of course, pajamas make it easier for us to see the real child or lack of in all of them.  Like the 5th grader who wouldn’t be caught dead in pj’s outside of his bedroom to the girl who wore a complete, zip up the front with ears on top the hood animal suit of some kind.  Those are the ones where you realize, they’re still little kids, still having fun being a kid and not being afraid to share what they like, no matter how silly.  It’s actually a bit refreshing.  And yet still distracting.

I will have to admit, however, that this morning at our end of year doughnut and juice extravaganza for my choir kids, they were pretty cute.  Sitting on the floor, munching on doughnut holes and giggling at Alvin and Chipmunks on the screen – in their pajamas.