WWYD- coat stained at school harvest festival?

[mykidslovesdisney]

My dc school held a harvest festival today instead of the usual halloween parade. One activity was inside the rest was outside. We are in CT so a winter jacket was required for today. One of the outside activities was making a mural. The supplies were Paint, crayons, glue. they also had ears of corn, pinecones, leaves, apples etc to assist in the creativity. I did volunteer to be w/ DD5 Kindergarten class. DD5 was in a new LL bean winter coat. The teacher told the kids to push up their sleeves- like that really works on winter jackets! DD happen to sit squished btwn 2 kids that were painting. DD was using the crayons. One classmate kept getting smidges of red paint on dd coat sleeves. I mentioned to one of the teachers that I hope the paint washes out. She said it was washable paint. One of the little classmates managed to make a huge mess w/ the paint on the ear of corn - did I mention they were kindergarteners? SHe literally had piles of red paint on her hand and sleeves of her coat. I offered to take her into the bathroom to clean up her hands. She was a mess. I managed to get all the red paint off her and also myself. I returned w/ her to the mural area and they class was beginning to go inside to wash up all the kids. They washed all the kids in the classrooms. One para was washing off another child's coat. Dd coat was on the table near her. I left shortly after that. Fast forward to pickup time and DD5 comes out w/ huge green paint stains on both sleeves plus the red stains too! I was so upset. I spoke w/ the teacher to express my dismay w/ the actiivity. She totally agreed that it was not a good activity to do outside w/ the coats on. I have been a room parent before in her class and we get along great. I told her I was going home to wash the coat and if it didnt' come out I would be visiting the office in on Monday to complain. I also picked up ds9 and ds8. DS9 brand new - 1st day of wearing it also had red paint on the coat. DS8 said that the paint was gone from the mural area when his class got there. so they just used crayons. I washed both coats- spraying it w/ spray n wash w/ resolve. DS9 coat came out clean but DD5 coat has green stains still on the sleeves! I tried to call the school but the office was already closed. I am upset it is a $60 LL bean coat from the outlet. She has only been wearing it for a few weeks. It is a sky blue color and the green is noticable. I am I out of line to complain to the school? I understand that coats do get worn but not by paint and not after just 2 wks of wearing it. In art class the kids put on smocks and roll up their sleeves. DS9 once tore his snow pants during recess- that I can deal w/ but I can't w/the paint.

WWYD- complain to the school? I know there are more serious issues in the world but this irks me that it was an inappropriate activity to do w/ the winter coats on.

 

[pigletto]

I don't think you are going to like my reply. But as a daycare provider and someone who previously worked in the school system as a teachers assistant I have to give my honest opinion.
Your children go to school every day to learn, create, and play. I would hope you would be more outraged if they all sat around making sure they stayed clean than the fact that were being engaged in a learning activity and got dirty.
I am positive I am not the first person to ever tell you that children should be dressed to learn and create. School is not a fashion show.
It is really frustrating for teachers and care providers to have an activity planned that is really fun for all the kids and to have to monitor coats and stains.
I would rather my child got dirty and learned and played.
Dress them accordingly.
JMO.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I am positive I am not the first person to ever tell you that children should be dressed to learn and create. School is not a fashion show.

Dress them accordingly.
JMO.

I completely agree. I know that when I send my kids to school that they will be doing things that can get dirty. I tend to have a school coat and a nice coat and then I don't have to worry about something happening to the coat at school. Clothes get stained and dirty and thats when I know my kids are being kids!

 

[allison443]

OP can I make a suggestion-have the coat drycleaned. My dd got acrylic paint on a shirt at Brownies once, it wouldn't come out with Shout and detergent, but it came out when I had it drycleaned.
It's worth a try!

 

[Brenda in CA]

I have to agree with the other posters as well. I'm a first grade teacher, and although I try to help the kids be neat, it's very difficult. I would never send my child to school in clothes (or coats, for that matter) that I wouldn't want to risk getting dirty or stained. Kids are tough on clothes. Coats get tossed on the ground when they are tired of wearing them. Even if you did complain, I don't think it would do you any good. They aren't going to replace the coat for you.

 

[SLDL]

I had a recent experience last week w/ DS6. The firetrucks visited his school and he came home w/ what he said was grease on alot of the coat. I washed it & was upset when it didn't come out but thankfully this is a coat from last year and not his "church coat". For a moment I considered buying him a new one but decided that since I know the coat is clean, although stained, I will just let him continue to wear this one. OP, I hope maybe drycleaning will work for you & then maybe just get a cheaper coat just for school. Good luck!

 

[allison443]

I meant to add to my post that I don't really think the school should reimburse you for the coat..kids get messy in school, whether it's paint, lunchtime, markers, the playground, etc. I agree that in the situation you described, paint doesn't sound like a great idea. Hopefully they learned for next year.

 

[horseshowmom]

OP, I don't know whether this will work for you or not (so please try it on a place where it won't show if you do try it in case it affects your color), but I've used Windex to get stains out of lots of stuff (including carpets). Another great spray on is called Awesome. You can get it at the Dollar Tree or Dollar General.

 

[glesgalass]

I'm afraid I agree with most of the PP's, it's a better idea to have play clothes for Kindergarten, and a jacket which is "playproof". My kids always hated the cheaper, darker jackets I made them wear to Nursery here, but at least I knew that if they had any sort of accident in it and it got dirty, torn etc., it wasn't as huge a disaster as their "good" coat getting ruined. I think, too, that the school could say that, as you were participating in the activity, you couls have requested the children's clothing, or at least your own child's, could have been protected at the time?

OT a little, but I am in charge of sorting the lost property at my kids school. You would not believe the amount of high end clothing left there for months on end, or never reclaimed, Ralph Lauren, Prada etc., why do people put this stuff on their kids for school?

 

[TwistofLemon]

So the school has to let the kids be creative? Fine! I love creativity. I'm an avid crafter myself. But perhaps it was poor judgement on the teacher's/school's part in the case of this particular activity.

Yes we all know kids get dirty and messy, and we even expect it. But to have such a fantastic no-way-you-won't-get-messy activity, with the mess-creating means provided by the school seems a bit silly to me. Not to mention, the result was more than just silly. Especially in these economic times when the price of a second coat for a child may just push the budget past a breaking point.
I'm with the OP. I would definitely complain to the school. Not to expect any money for drycleaning, but to prevent a repeat for next year.

 

[luv2nascar]

I would not complain to the school. Live and learn. Zout takes everything out. You can get it at Walmart. Or one of the Goo gone type products is surely meant for paint.

 

[mangocanon]

I would not complain to the school. Live and learn. Zout takes everything out. You can get it at Walmart. Or one of the Goo gone type products is surely meant for paint.

I agree with this and all above. If you don't want something to get dirty, don't put it on a kid.

 

[Emmaline Lola]

did you try oxyclean spray for taking stains out.......works GREAT for me! clear blue spray bottle with yellow spray top found it in Walmart........

if that doesn't work what about Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!?!?

those are my 2 stain removers that I stand behind........good luck!

 

[mangocanon]

Can you use the eraser on clothes? wicked idea!

 

[Emmaline Lola]

Can you use the eraser on clothes? wicked idea!

I personally haven't tried it, but if I was in the OP position, having a green stained coat, I would try the magic eraser as a last resort....couldn't make the jacket worse, right??

but I would do the oxyclean spray stain thing first.........

our own little science experiment on the budget boards!

 

[Green Tea]

I HATE it when stuff like that happens, but I don't think you can call the school for a reimbursement.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm with the others: kids' clothes get messy, sometimes ruined. It's just the way things are. I think every mom has similar stories. I remember another kid cutting my daughter's red cordoroy pants; I was upset by that one -- not because of the cutting but because they were using real scissors. I remember several lost coats and a pair of lost shoes (not sure exactly how my child lost her shoes at school). Kids have no consideration for the value of nice clothes!

I strongly advise you to consider buying gently used things. They're widely available at consignment stores and on ebay, and I can tell you from experience that you won't be nearly so upset when a $5 coat is ruined!

 

[torinsmom]

Sounds like it was a live and learn experience for everyone, especially the teacher. As a teacher of pre-K/K, I have had things like this happen. There's a good chance it was washable paint, but I have learned washable doesn't mean EASILY washable. You said you had a good relationship with the teacher, and if you want to keep that, I would say you shouldn't complain to the office. Although it is unfortunate that your child's coat got paint on it, it really isn't worth straining your relationship with her teacher for the rest of the year, IMHO.
My DS14 has had plenty of items stained, ripped, etc at school over the years and I just chalk it up to him learning/having fun.

It sounds like the green paint got on while the kids were cleaning up, so a smock wouldn't have helped. Maybe you or your your child should have put her coat in her cubby(or at least further away from the clean up area); sounds like someone used it as a towel to clean their hands. Not trying to sound rude, but you saw it there by where they were cleaning up and you didn't move it, so you didn't really think about that risk either. Like I said, it was a live and learn situation.

Hope you can try some of the PP's ideas and that the paint comes out!

Marsha

 

[momejay]

Not that LL Bean is at fault here, but if it was brand new...I think that LL Bean would take it back & give you a new coat or credit you.
My brother purchased a backpack from LL Bean. Three weeks later for his Birthday he got a bigger size bag that his laptop fit nicely into so he returned the first one. He went to put it in the box to ship it back & noticed some marks on the bottom so he tried to get the marks off & ended up bleaching the bag a little. Well, being a broke college kid he returned the bag & got a new one. (which wasn't what he was going for, he wanted a credit) LL Bean is really good about returns & I'm sure they would help you out.
I think it was a silly activity for young children in this weather. Wearing bathing suits, maybe...

 

[rantnnravin]

OP says coats were required for the day. Were parents notified ahead of time what the activities would be/why they would need a coat? Were parents advised that the activities would be messy and to dress children in "play clothes" for both in- and outdoors?
If not, then the school should be made aware that this is a concern and that more forethought and planning should be undertaken for next year. Do I think the school will reimburse for the coat? Not sure. Some districts/schools may offer to pay for cleaning out of petty cash.
I don't think OP was unreasonable in expecting normal wear and tear over the course of a season, but certainly not to have the coat destroyed within the first month of school due to a poorly planned activity.
(I am a teacher, so no flames about how hard teachers work and plan, please)