Field Trip T-Shirts - I just gotta vent...

[3boymthr]

Does your school do this?

Send in a T that the kids in the class will decorate so they all match and the teacher can find them.

Most of the time I don't mind the idea of the shirts. I pull out one of their bed time t-shirts and send it in. After the field trip the shirt is still good for bed and usually also good for summer camp, etc.

This time around one of the moms volunteered to pick up and tie dye the shirts for the kids to wear. She does this as a hobby so offered to do it with better dyes and Ts. Very nice of her to offer. The shirt came home yesterday and it was really nice quality - the colors are bright and clear - nice professional looking pattern.

The cost was $5 - not that big a deal in the large scheme of things - but when that shirt came home I got really aggravated by the whole thing. Why? Because 1) I'm on unemployment which runs out in 4 weeks so I'm watching my pennies really carefully and 2) she died them Pink - pale pink, fuscia with a touch of orange. Really? My SON really really wants to wear a pink shirt - Not.

She did a great job and I know this was a lot of effort on her part - But Pink! I know she has a daughter and that's probably why she chose this color scheme but don't you think she should have asked the opinion of the class - or at least double checked her choice with the room parents? I betting the boys in the class would have okayed the orange but vetoed the pink.

BTW - Other classes tie dyed their shirts as well. The kids picked out the colors by class vote and did the dyeing themselves. The colors weren't as vibrant, the patterns not a good but they were green, blue, yellow, red, etc. - colors both boys and girls would wear.

I'll be donating the shirt to Goodwill so it won't go completely to waste.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[Reddy]

I have seen guys wear pink shirts

maybe you could ask her to add some blue/green now that the class time is done (maybe a few more of the boys parents would join in)

 

[robinb]

Sorry she chose such girly colors. At least all the boys will be in the same boat and he won't be the only one with a hot pink shirt.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I wonder if she was aiming for red, but didn't let the dye set long enough? This happened to my ds in 3rd grade. Luckily, it had some darker colors, so it was OK...but I did find it odd that it was pink. It wasn't until I had tried doing some on my own, that I discovered that red sometimes does that.

Hopefully your son isn't too upset. They'll wear them as a class a couple of times, and then he won't have to wear it again.

 

[shoney]

At our intermediate school (3 to 5th), each class gets a name (ie. Ms. Jones' Jaguars), logo and a color. This year my DS is purple. At the start of the school year, each student must give the class mom 25.00 and part of it goes towards the class shirt. The kids have never complained because the whole class has to wear the same thing.

 

[matousm]

All the boys at my son's school wear pink all of the time. My son has 3 pink polo shirts. It is no big deal. What is wrong with a boy wearing pink? He is 10 BTW.

 

[eroilersgal]

My sons were "Purple Jedis" one year in little league. Their team ended up with purple shirts and they were fine with it. Now, at 10 and 13....don't think a pink shirt would ever leave the drawer

 

[disney*mom*82]

I understand it turned out more "girly" than you would of liked. But 1) $5 is not bad, you can barely buy a t shirt at Wal Mart for that price. 2) Now they will all look the same so if someone is lost, the will be easy to spot and so will their class. 3) Pink is not just for girls anymore. I have a ds13 and dd11 who wear close to the same size and he wears pink, all shades of pink, just as much as she does. When I do laundry I cant always tell their tops apart. 4) It still could be used for a bedtime shirt.

 

[shoney]

My ds11 is in middle school and pink is considered "cool" with the boys. Him and his friends insisted on pink hair for crazy hair day. They equate it with "****ies" because of all of breast cancer awareness!

 

[cvjw]

I would just be happy that another Mom volunteered her time, energy, and I'm sure her $ to do something nice for your child. Be grateful, not ungrateful - and I am speaking as the Mom who usually volunteers her time and $ for my kid's classes. Nothing worse than doing something nice for others and getting flak in return.

 

[AndreaDM]

It's one day, and ALL the boys will be wearing them. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Let him wear it for the day and then donate it. I know it stinks.

My DD's class is doing the same. I had to buy a new white shirt so she can tie-dye @ dschool for a field trip and field day (we won't be there for field day - we'll be in Disney!). We already have so many tie-dyed shirts that we made, or that girl scouts made, and the last thing I really need was run out on Mother's Day to find her a shirt.

But I did it. Yeah, it was a $5 I didn't need to spend, but in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty small.

But the mom should have put a little more thought into the color scheme. LOL

 

[Mrsdennison]

Each grade at our school does shirts that match. 6.50 at the beginning of the year. The shirts must be worn for all specials. Assemblies, parties, field trips.

First year our shirts were forest green
Second year- orange( school color) YEAH
This year- brown ( the teachers told the kids before hand it was chocolate so dd was okay with it.)

We are hoping for a brighter color next year. Only other bad thing was since they wear these all year, I had to purchase two sizes. I knew dd was going to have a growth spurt. I was correct. Glad I got two.

Mrsdennison

 

[PHXscuba]

I got lucky this year. PTSO ordered new shirts to sell as a fundraiser and the manufacturer screwed them up (logo totally off center, etc.) TWICE. HUGE hassle/headache. The silver lining was that the PTSO gave the hundreds of mis-aligned T-shirts to the school, which is using them as field trip shirts! They were grey but the teachers over-dyed them maroon (other school color). So they will stay with the school to be washed and re-used, but didn't cost us anything but the massive dye-ing the teachers did.

PHXscuba

 

[3boymthr]

I'm very grateful this other mom was willing to take on the dyeing and having done tie-dye I totally appreciate the work that went into the shirt. And if I had a girl I'd be loving this shirt. The color definitely did not start out as red. It's too girly girl of a pink. If the colors were Red and Orange or Blue and Orange or even Purple and Orange I'd be fine with it.

But I have three boys and the youngest, the one who has to wear this shirt, is soooo not in to pink. We're talking about a boy whose favorite shirts sport skulls - youthful and fun skulls, but skulls none-the-less and the darker and blacker the better...

And yes, I know it's just $5, and I've certainly wasted more money in less productive ways, but when you're already pinching pennies, $5 down the drain, when if the other person could have done something a little more gender friendly, is kind of annoying.

 

[GinnyEmma]

At least he won't get lost...

 

[minniebeth]

At least he won't get lost...

This is what I was thinking~ I understand your frustration at the color of the shirt for future use, but as a former teacher, I can say, I'm sure the teachers appreciate the kids all being in the same shirts.

 

[torinsmom]

It's very likely that the pink was red. I have tie dyed quite a bit, and when the red rinses out, it will be a very girly pink. I have a shirt in my dryer right now that I died red and royal blue a few weeks ago, and it is pink and baby blue now. Last week, we dyed our t-shirts for an upcoming field trip( I paid for everything) and I researched a lot more before starting. You have to soak the shirts in a special solution before dyeing and then keep them in bags for 2-3 days after dyeing. Our shirts turned out really bright and the kids love them.

 

[krcit]

Our PTA gives all the kids a lime green T-shirt at the beginning of the year. They wear it on the first Friday of the month and on all field trips.

 

[Meshell2002]

I'm sorry u didn't like the color, hopefully ur DS will not be embarressed since everyone's will be the same. I too have had several failed dye red attempts. Be real careful if you wash this shirt before you donate it. It may bleed real bad. $5 is not bad at all for a shirt she probably didn't even charge you for the dye....it gets expensive (it may have been fuscia to start...she may have already had the dye and didn't want to spend a lot of $)