Preschooler constantly destroying clothes!

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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seeker

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 1:47 am

Is this typical? I don't know whether to worry about the kid, the teacher, or neither, but I'm getting really frustrated with the laundry/wardrobe situation. 4 y/o DD keeps coming home from kindergarten dirty all over and often with stuff that doesn't come out easily if at all. Glue is a real problem but there has also been paint/food coloring that was hard to get out and permanent marker too. A couple of shirts have ended up in the trash this year and she comes home with new types of stains almost every day. It is probably wrong of me but I've started taking it out on her embarrassed

When I bought her a few new shirts mid-season because she was running out of things to wear and they came home possibly destroyed after 1-2 wears, I gave her a lecture but even though she seems to have been properly intimidated (again, embarrassed

) it doesn't seem to have actually helped the problem. At home she seems generally neat and careful, though accidents happen and she does have a tendency to wipe her hands and face on her clothes...

Is this something I should take up with her OT, or do all 4-year-olds do this? Is it just irresponsible of the teacher to use such difficult-to-wash materials without proper protection? They did ask us to send long-sleeved smocks at the beginning of the year. And I sent mine. DD says on each occasion that they didn't use the smocks because morah trusts the girls to be careful Confused

Oh, and while we're on the topic, anyone have a trick to get dried glue out of shirts without destroying the shirt? At wits end

PAMOM

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 7:21 am

If she's getting OT, ask the therapist about your child. In addition, you can ask the morah to have all kids (not single yours out) wear smocks. I sent one of dh's old shirts as a smock after showing dd a picture of a "real" artist in a smock. She loved that. At the end of the day, though, this is what 4-year-olds do. That's why I got very very inexpensive clothes at this age ( k-mart, Target sales, TJMaxx sales, handmedowns). I asked dd to wear the smock but didn't want her to feel bad if something happened. I wanted her to know that we could "afford" her accidents ( part of my baggage). I assured her that I wouldn't get her something that cost so much that I'd be upset if something happened--which it did, almost every week. However, at that age, she thought remnants of paint and glitter on clothes were an asset, so I just agreed!

chani8

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 7:46 am

No, we went through a lot of clothes. You learn to grin and bear it as you put a clean but stained shirt on your child.

amother

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 7:58 am

My childRen are not neat and came home dirty a lot. However, everything came out and nothing was left stained or ruined.

salt

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 8:13 am

And buying dark colored clothes helps them last out longer. It may not help for glue stains, but the clothes become grubby much slower. White or pale colored shirts, only on shabbat.

tovli toraspicha

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 8:33 am

sounds like my 4 year old's clothing when she returns from school too!

ra_mom

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 9:43 am

Normal frustrations. But still, sounds a bit like she could use OT help if she has services anyway, and it sounds like the teacher is using too many permanent products and not utilizing the smocks enough. For goodness sakes, they're 4 and need to use washable products and keep themselves covered during craft time.
I have dealt with this too. And it has been easier the years that the teachers cared enough about the products they used.

Iymnok

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 9:57 am

Talk to the morah!. 4 year olds cannot be trusted to keep clean. Period.

seeker

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 11:45 am

Well, OK, glad it's not just me anyway. I was getting concerned. I feel like I can't send her out in stained clothes... but on the other hand how do you keep having clean clothes and what's the point if they get demolished by 3 PM every day.

I don't buy expensive clothes ever but still, even $3-4 shirts are going to add up if they're disposable. Also, her initial wardrobe was 90% hand-me-downs and gifts so having to replace things is an unforeseen expense. Her wardrobe was practically free, her little sister's is going to have to be bought mostly from scratch. I'm thinking this is reasonable enough as things die anyway, but it's annoying.

I know I have to go easier on her. It's hard not to groan and grumble when she comes home with splotches all over a new shirt agaaaaain. But I don't want to give her a complex or anything.

Not sure whether I can safely ask more of the morah, we are already pretty demanding customers embarrassed

But maybe I'll put in a word about smock use. As long as it's not just my kid who gets dirty all the time, thanks for the validation. BTW I finally got to the gluey shirt last night and it seems to have come off, so it must have been something else sticky that all-but-ruined the last shirt or maybe it was the lack of pre-washing. Seriously, because I have time in my life to hand-wash all her clothes every day.

I thought toddlerhood was messy but really she was much neater than this, and in nursery her class was big too so it's not like they were so on top of kids not making messes. I think they just used smocks more and more washable materials. My 2-year-old comes home almost clean almost always but there they probably have even more individual attention, plus the smocks and washables.

bnm

Sun, Mar 15 2015, 12:29 pm

about going out in stained clothes- save 1-2 outfits for sunday/vacation wear.

seeker

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 2:30 am

So I thought the glue was out but it's not. You can't really see it anymore but it still feels all stiff and scratchy and DD is sensitive to that - we already have one good school shirt and one (her only) warm fuzzy pajama top she won't wear because of that texture. No idea what got on the PJs...

Any tips for getting stiff glue feel out of clothes?!

imaima

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 5:31 am

Where I live, going to preschool every day is not considered going out. It is understood that clothes get ruined because kids are supposed to play, have fun and be creative without worrying about the stains.
I wanted to post it on a different thread od yours, but I might as well say it here - before u buy anything, try to get hand me downs from other people. there is nothing shameful about it. If it is last season, it won't be really outdated, and your daughter won't have to be intimidated.

bnm

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 11:48 am

goo gone

LittleDucky

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 12:05 pm

Try oxi clean. It's a great powder that you soak everything in it overnight. Haven't tried on glue but it works on almost everything else I've tried!

sky

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 12:26 pm

I don't think toddlers\playgroup age should be coming home filthy every day. (I too spend very little on my children's clothing and expect it to last the season and even be passed down).
My children did a lot of arts and crafts in school. I have a 3 year old who brings home projects daily. She isn't an especially neat child but I've thrown out very little clothing
They wear smocks when doing any sort of art project in school. There is lots of cutting, gluing, coloring and painting activities and outdoor play.
I think a morah\school should be making an effort to make sure that kids aren't getting filthy and stained during activities within reason.

Did you send in your own smock at the beginning of the year? Is it possible that it is torn or not sufficient and a better smock may save her clothing more?

zigi

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 12:40 pm

I have an older boy is really hard on his clothes. the uniform is a light blue shirt. uch one of them was clean but dirty looking. with a plaid shirt it hides the stains easier. I find it harder to have hand me downs with older kids. or some kids are very hard on everything.

seeker

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 3:37 pm

Mostly the clothes that are getting destroyed ARE the hand-me-downs. Which means there won't be much to hand down to my next kid. And which also explains why it's been harder to get a full wardrobe of just hand-me-downs the last couple of years, as opposed to baby clothes which get outgrown before they get destroyed.

I sent the smock (long sleeved, with elastic at the ends of the sleeves, and flexible plastic. We use the same kind at home and it seems pretty impermeable) and each time she comes home dirty she said they didn't use it Confused

I can understand not wanting to get 20 kids into and out of smocks each time they pick up a marker... but in that case you should be using only washable! Glue comes in washable too!

Last glue stain OxiClean did not help, so this time I didn't try.

I am pretty sure I tried goo gone too last time, but I will try again now. Maybe if I let it soak in it... by that time I may as well just find another shirt to buy. Again. My time, energy, and even cleaning supply budget is not unlimited.

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