Schoolgirl Chic

Frankie has been out of school now for almost a month. The other day she came to me, tears in her eyes, and said, "Mommy... Why did you make me leave school forever before I learned how to read?"
I guess she thought that she'd *never* be going back to school, and would have to live the rest of her life without ever learning to read. So sad!

She is, of course, headed back to school. We'll be sending her to pre-school, here called "reception" beginning April 12. School out here is free for children ages four and up, so we'll won't have to shell out the nearly $600 a month that we were paying to put Frankie in school in the US. (An extra $600 a month? Woo-hoo! Mink capelets and diamond tennis bracelets for everyone!)

We spent a little time this weekend shopping for school clothes. All of the schools out here require the kids to wear uniforms, so I had a list of plain, unadorned mix-and-matchables I was supposed to buy. I had to check, like, six separate stores to find black school tights because even though they're on the uniform list, no store in the area seems to carry them. Everything else was a snap to find. The only other struggle I had was with buying a "jumper." A red jumper is required of all of the kids at school, but I had to look the definition up on the internet twice before I was convinced I was buying the right thing. In the UK, a jumper is what we US folks call a sweater. But, I couldn't quite figure out whether or not the term "jumper" referred to a specific *style* of sweater. For example, is a cardigan part of the "jumper" family?

Anyhow, I think I have everything figured out. Here's the end result:

It's all totally adorable, and reminds me a little of the kids from "Harry Potter." Still, the uniform thing is going to take a little getting used to. When I was young and in school, dressing in weird and wonderful clothes was one of the key  ways I learned to express myself. Heck, I can still remember going to high school as a freshman dressed in a floor-length grey flannel granny skirt and black army surplus combat boots.

On a sheerly practical note, it's going to be *way * easier for Matt to dres Frankie in the morning. Everything totally goes together: grey or black bottoms, and a white shirt. Easy-peasy. It's dad-proof!