After nursery today, I noticed my shirt was smeared with snot. Lots and lots of snot, in multiple places. I also had a piece of scotch tape and a blue foam sticker pig stuck to me. I pulled off the pig and the tape and I really hope all the snot washes out okay.
I know church is supposed to be Sunday best, but working in nursery has made me adjust my wardrobe. I've found myself reaching into the back of my closet for clothes that are old or ugly. I try to pair those clothes appropriately in order to avoid dumpiness but I can't say I get many compliments on my style. I feel a little sad because I know I look a lot better when I go to work than when I go to church these days.
What I need is a SUPER kid-proof outfit. If anyone could produce this outfit, I'm sure they could make a million, billion dollars. I think Project Runway should try to tackle it. Here's a few of the requirements:
Resistant to staining
Resistant to the absorption of any type of body fluid.
Flexible enough to run in place, jump up from Ring around the Rosy, do Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, lift screaming and kicking small children
Fit perfectly so I don't have to worry about accidently flashing or mooning anyone
Look Amazing
And I suppose it should look appropriately feminine, although pants seem to make a lot more sense.
Have you tried an apron? You could stick it in your bag and pull it out just for nursery. That way you can dress as nice as you'd like and still protect your Sunday best from snot.
ReplyDeleteSorry but when you said "kid friendly" the only thing I thought of was a plastic poncho. LOL Sorry I can't be of more help. Kids are just messy...
ReplyDeleteThe DuPont Stainmaster spray stuff works really, really well, as do the toxic waste jump suits (though the simple white sweat suit that you just chuck in the wash with bleach works pretty well too).
ReplyDeleteI remember once when I was released from YW and put in nursery (again) and it was such a relief to wear clothes that didn't matter...I could just be comfortable and practical. I loved the change! The YW were so conscious of clothes and fashion but the nursery kids just wanted someone who would smile at them and get down on the floor to play! This is one area where I will take nursery over the youth anytime.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've added a comment. I work in the nursery in Virginia. This is my second year. They re-split the classes in January and all of my kids moved up into Senior Nursery (2+ by Dec. 31, including my cutie son) and now my class will get all of the newbies throughout the year. Right now there are 4 kids, by the end of the year there will be 22, and more than one class. My nursery classroom is a standard church classroom, it is tiny and when you get more than about 6 kids in there it gets hazardous. I serve with another sister and switch teaching the lesson/leading nursery each week.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get a good outfit, then there is the shoes issue. I usually end up taking them off anyway, but I do want to be wearing something that matches and looks halfway decent for sacrament anyway! Oh well. Here is what worked for us in nursery today, after the lesson and the lesson activities, we made valentines for the parents. All of our older kids moved up to the older nursery in January, so the kids I have now I am having to readjust my thinking for. No lessons that require any type of response or conversations, since none of them really talk yet. We put away the play dough since none of them are even interested in it (but the older kids loved it) so I went back to the basics.
For the valentine's for mom and dad I gave each kid a regular piece of construction paper. Then I brought in a container of heart foam stickers I got at a party store for a few bucks. No kidding, 20 minutes later class ended and the parents had to convince their kids to stop applying stickers. Helps that right now my class is all girls.
So for next week we are going to put up a big piece of butcher paper on the wall and give each kid a page of stickers to put up on it as they come in the door and see if that helps with the drop-off crying. We'll see.
ooh! Yes. Aprons are totally cute and feminine and nursery friendly. The "Tie On One" flickr gallery has some great apron ideas.
ReplyDeleteHere's their LINK
There is a stretchy (I think) polyester/lycra blend that they often use for shirts and skirts. It's kind of like swimsuit material. It's slightly clingy and very flowing. If you get black, it completely repels stains, is easily wiped off with water and is stretchy enough that if you buy a long skirt, you can sit on the floor whilst showing nothing. I bought a maternity skirt made out of this fabric when I was pregnant, and I still wear it because I love it so much. It doesn't have the annoying stretchy maternity panel because the entire skirt is stretchy, so it doesn't look maternity at all.
ReplyDeleteIf you could find an entire dress made out of that fabric, it should solve your problems. Brings a whole new meaning to the term "little black dress."
I say get dirty and love it. Were suppose to be like little children right. It shows your a hands on nursery leader. Which is so admirable.
ReplyDeleteSnot Snot
who's there
Sister
Sister Who
Sister Nursery Leader
Its all good. YW Leaders have stains of lipstick and tears from teenage woes. RS Leaders are up to their elbows in Ham grease. Primary Leaders wear tape for sharing time. Were all a mess really. Hope this took the guess work out of shopping for the perfect dress. You already wear it.
I found your blog off of someone elses blog and I am a nursery worker as well. Can I just tell you you have some great ideas and I love looking at your blog. Also this blog on what to wear had me laughing out loud because I totally understand what you are talking about!
ReplyDeleteWHAT?! You're wondering about a cleaning product for stains, and you didn't call me immediately? Oh how easily you forget. I love Zout -- for everything. Spray it and rub the fabric together between your fingers. I think Snot comes out. I don't even think that you have to rub the fabric between your fingers. just spray and put it in the wash. From what I've found, Zout works the best and I haven't noticed that it bleeds the colors like spray and wash.
ReplyDeletep.s. - Babyproof clothes--I'm thinking some sort of fabulous rainslicker and matching galoshes. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Kate, you're doing such a great job on this website! I'm not the nursery leader, but I have 17 active Sunbeams! Your ideas are just what I need. I must admit, I have become Sister Frumpy too.
ReplyDeleteI admit I'm not in nursery but I do have a 1- and 3-yr old at home, and I end every single day, not just Sunday, covered in snot, food goo, diaper rash cream and probably other stuff. I have a set of about 5 short and 5 long sleeved t-shirts, and about 3 pairs of pants that's ALL I WEAR, and they are stained and gross, even when freshly laundered. I hear your woes.
ReplyDeleteI also know that these smears are heavily concentrated on the arms and shoulders, so a regular apron won't do and of course a rain coat, while practical, would be hot or in the way too much. One possibility is keeping an oversized sweatshirt or long-sleeved shirt in the nursery and throwing it over your nice clothes, like when we used to take an old shirt of dad's to school for an art smock. Then take it home to wash as needed. This doesn't cover your skirt but it's a start. At least you could wear a nice top. An even dressier answer to this would be something like this: momono, which unfortunately I just saw is going out of business. I was thinking to get one if I have another baby but I guess I'll get one now in case I do!
I think it's a genius idea to make it a project runway challenge. I wonder if they take suggestions! I would only add that it's not allowed to be totally khaki, which is the color of most of the things that end up on my clothes.
Amazingly I have something else to say on the topic. I did a quick web search and came up with this wraparound smock ($25) - what do you think? I think it would do the job nicely. You can even have your name embroidered on it - what a nice touch :)
ReplyDeleteI know there are people who frown on wearing denim to church, but I am NOT one of them.
ReplyDeleteI wear the same denim skirt (from Old Navy) to church and nursery every sunday and it washes up absolutely great. It's comfortable, pretty cute and let's me really play with the kids without worrying about getting too dirty.
Of course, I don't look like I just walked out of a fashion magazine, and there are probably some people who don't think it is dressy enough for church. Sometimes you have to be practical, though.
I'd give my eye teeth for an outfit like that for everyday! (I have 5 kids 8 and under.)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the nursery, it was humongous long skirts for me. Not in fashion, but best for getting up and down off the floor.
PS I found you off LDS Women Bloggers.
In my experience snot always comes out. I never even spray it and have never had a problem. Then if something does leave a stain, there is always Oxi-Clean, which is a miracle worker. I have washed clothes with baby spit up that have been sitting around for months (I kid you not...and maybe you are wondering why I have dirty clothes sitting around for months....for this experiement of course) and a few hours in oxi-clean and the stain is absoultely gone even if the stain was set in. Awesome. As for clothes, I would wear skirts and shirts..much easier to roll around on the ground in. Those tunic shirts are in right now and would allow you to modestly roll around. Also, you could buy a few plain black skirts from a thrift store and just always wear those. Don't worry, because all the moms bringing their kids to nursery porbably have snot all over them as well. Good luck.
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