To those with “crisp” clean preschoolers...

[Anonymous]

Part of it is wardrobe. More expensive clothes fall nicer and are less ratty looking after a few washes. I wet and comb my son’s hair before school and he washes his face and hands with water after breakfast. I think a girl would be harder because I know a lot of them don’t like to have their hair done, so it’s stringy and in their face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would you send a kid to preschool in white shirts and crisp shorts? Do these kids never make a mess? Isn't that part of the point of preschool?

OP here. Yes they do make a mess and are as dirty as my kid by 12:30. They just start out better than mine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, Are you seeing these "crisp" children in person or just on social media?

OP here. In person, at my kid’s school, every morning.

[Anonymous]

Ironed clothes and clean children. DH was in the military and is amazing with the iron - and fast. My kids have always bathed every night and either washed or conditioned their hair so it is always clean. I styled my kids’ hair - ponytails, braids and pigtails every day so it is part of their routine.

Morning is breakfast, hands, face and teeth, dressed, hair. No deviation ever so no fights. And I just started separating whites and darks (I used to wash them all together and got dingy whites). I use a little bleach in the whites.

Yes they are a hot mess at the end of preschool but I love that they start out fresh, crisp and clean. I echo that clothes like Hanna Andersen launder and hang better, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ironed clothes and clean children. DH was in the military and is amazing with the iron - and fast. My kids have always bathed every night and either washed or conditioned their hair so it is always clean. I styled my kids’ hair - ponytails, braids and pigtails every day so it is part of their routine.

Morning is breakfast, hands, face and teeth, dressed, hair. No deviation ever so no fights. And I just started separating whites and darks (I used to wash them all together and got dingy whites). I use a little bleach in the whites.

Yes they are a hot mess at the end of preschool but I love that they start out fresh, crisp and clean. I echo that clothes like Hanna Andersen launder and hang better, too.

+1

I tend to spend money on high-quality clothes and I find that the stains come out easily and they basically always look new. Plus, I've never seen something look stretched out or worn. And since I stalk sales and deals I generally end up getting a pretty penny back from the consignment store, which offsets a lot of the cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would you send a kid to preschool in white shirts and crisp shorts? Do these kids never make a mess? Isn't that part of the point of preschool?

OP here. Yes they do make a mess and are as dirty as my kid by 12:30. They just start out better than mine!

Got it. You just care more than me! I don't want my kids to start the day dirty, and insist on clean clothes and faces, brushed hair, etc., but I am not willing to take the time on their appearance beyond that. But you've gotten lots of great tips! Minus all the poop comments

[Anonymous]

I had kids with lots of sensory issues who couldn't stand to have hair brushed, etc. I usually managed to get a hairbrush through their hair but was never able to pull off these feats of having people stand still while I did braids, etc. My object was usually to get people out the door without a 45 minute meltdown that led to people being late, exhausted, etc.

They also had lots of issues related to what they could and could not wear, no exposed seams, etc.

I was always so jealous of you gals with the kids who looked like they just walked out of a magazine.

But it never occured to me to put hairspray on a kid. I thought only the Duggars did that

[Anonymous]

Shower each night, wipe faces down after breakfast, water spritz and comb through hair each morning, leave stain remover on clothes for 10 minutes then wash - repeat until it comes out!

[Anonymous]

What's the best leave-in conditioner you have found? My girls like their hair long and it's very pretty but one of them has very thick hair and it's a nightmare!

[Anonymous]

I iron my girls' clothing every day. They're 11 and 8.
I admit this is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its very simple.

1) Begin with clean, showered kids each day.

2) Make sure they have pooped at home in the morning, make sure they brush their teeth and scrape out their tongue so that they have clean breath.

3) Make sure they eat breakfast at home so that they can clean their faces at home. This will prevent a kid with bits of food stuck on their person.

3)A neat haircut/ponytail will allow your kids hair not to look like a mess. In the mornings, after the shower, style their hair with a bit of leave-in hair conditioner and blow dry it.

4) Make them wear fresh, clean, pressed clothes that smell great.

5) Make sure that their shoes are clean. You can wash sneakers in the washing machine weekly.

Done. Kids look clean when they are clean to begin with. Many parents wake their kids and dump them in day care in their PJs and in crumpled clothes. So the kids look like shit to begin with.

You blow dry your pre-schoolers hair?! and iron their clothes?! Wow. I give my 4.5 year old a bath every other night and put leave in conditioner in the mornigns after we don't do bath and she has clean clothes and a headband. She has really curly hair though and still looks a little crazy no matter what we do. Blow drying it would be nuts for us, but even with kids with straight hair...

There is no way this person has multiple children or a full-time job.

Don’t fall for the troll people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its very simple.

1) Begin with clean, showered kids each day.

2) Make sure they have pooped at home in the morning, make sure they brush their teeth and scrape out their tongue so that they have clean breath.

3) Make sure they eat breakfast at home so that they can clean their faces at home. This will prevent a kid with bits of food stuck on their person.

3)A neat haircut/ponytail will allow your kids hair not to look like a mess. In the mornings, after the shower, style their hair with a bit of leave-in hair conditioner and blow dry it.

4) Make them wear fresh, clean, pressed clothes that smell great.

5) Make sure that their shoes are clean. You can wash sneakers in the washing machine weekly.

Done. Kids look clean when they are clean to begin with. Many parents wake their kids and dump them in day care in their PJs and in crumpled clothes. So the kids look like shit to begin with.

You blow dry your pre-schoolers hair?! and iron their clothes?! Wow. I give my 4.5 year old a bath every other night and put leave in conditioner in the mornigns after we don't do bath and she has clean clothes and a headband. She has really curly hair though and still looks a little crazy no matter what we do. Blow drying it would be nuts for us, but even with kids with straight hair...

There is no way this person has multiple children or a full-time job.

Don’t fall for the troll people!

I actually knew a woman who blew out her girls hair every day. SAHM and a fashionista.

[Anonymous]

people who can't be bothered to bathe their kids daily are the same people who can't be bothered to iron their clothes or at least shake them out after the dryer stops. That is difference between crisp and mess.

[Anonymous]

Fold the clothes straight out of the dryer and use fabric softener. I do iron stuff. Bath the kids every single night and wash hair pretty much every weekday night because they are at a Reggio school that is outdoors most of the year and with sand, sunscreen and paint (along with a mud kitchen) it is dirty. Tide, oxiclean and bleach whites.

[Anonymous]

My tip is to do things on a set schedule. So for example, haircut is the first week of the month, shoes are washed that week also (dingy shoes vs clean shoes is a huge difference!) Nails are cut every Friday.

I exclusively use hand me downs/second hand clothes, so I get what I get. But I try to match red shorts with a red tee etc. I used to not care at all but I like how it looks!