I spent years in preschool classrooms, and I always liked it when parents had the girls wear shorts under their dresses. Why? Because I got tired of telling girls to pull their dresses and skirts down. It's not an issue of sexuality, it's an issue of privacy. I don't want little boys showing their underwear, and little girls either. But when the children sit cross-legged on the floor for circle time, it's easy for other kids to see up their dresses, not to mention at the playground when the girls are going down the slide or climbing on the equipment.

If you are teaching your children that what's in their underwear is private, then don't you also teach them that they shouldn't show their underwear in public?

Not bizarre. I never worried about shorts under sundresses or whatever at daycare, but our first year at public preschool the teacher's aide suggested we get DD some shorts to wear under her uniform jumpers when the weather is still warm. There are these cute colored ones called "monkeypants" I saw at a children's store, but I just buy sleek ones I find online. The idea of monkeypants is that your kid can hang upside down on the monkeybars and not show off their panties.
The teacher also said that sometimes the little kids will not only inadvertantly show off their panties, which is a distraction for the other kids, but also they, uh, finger themselves, especially when they are tired & cuddling a blanket, or for comfort. The shorts help cut back on that too.

I had this request from my DD's 3 year old teacher, but not her 2 year old or 4 year old teacher. Same school. But the 3 year old teacher was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud in general.

I wear shorts underneath my skirts when I bike to work to avoid flashing the neighborhood should the wind gust in a particular way. Along the same lines, I would have loved shorts under my dresses as a little girl, because I was always in a dress and didn't want to restrict my play in fear of exposing my underpants. It's not sexual or conservative, just making it easier for an active girl to conform to adult standards of modesty.

Yup, I always put shorts/pants/leggings under DD's skirts and dresses. If my son wore skirts I would do the same.

I am in NOVA. Our preschool requested and elementary school required. Totally normal.

I think its a good idea. A little girl at my son's daycare was running around in the playground in a skirt with only underwear last week, and the underwear was on crooked. The other kids were joking that they could see her vagina, and they could (because I could). It wasn't sexual, but I would rather not see it. My son (age 3) found the situation hilarious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No time to read all the replies, but, when I attended Catholic school growing up, all of us wore shorts (when we were older, usually men's boxer shorts, which became some sort of bizarre fashion statement) under our uniform skirts. It was just practical to keep our underwear covered and still allow us to be active in our skirts.

Same here!! I guess that's why I find it so funny that this would be a "new" issue for some new moms of girls!! This has been going on for as long as I am aware, and I am nearly 40! Skirts + school attendance = something worn underneath!

I remember in elementary school wearing uniform-issued shorts under my uniform-issued jumper. How else was I going to hang upside down on the monkey bars without being embarassed..

If you teach your daughter not to show her underwear and don't have her wear shorts, how is she going to be active?

I know. To me, it's a gift to your DD to let her wear shorts. Then she can run aroound, flip upside down, do whatever she wants. Now that I think about it, even today as an adult, it sure would be easier to wear my good ol' St. ____ School gym shorts under my skirt sometimes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No time to read all the replies, but, when I attended Catholic school growing up, all of us wore shorts (when we were older, usually men's boxer shorts, which became some sort of bizarre fashion statement) under our uniform skirts. It was just practical to keep our underwear covered and still allow us to be active in our skirts.

Same here!! I guess that's why I find it so funny that this would be a "new" issue for some new moms of girls!! This has been going on for as long as I am aware, and I am nearly 40! Skirts + school attendance = something worn underneath!

I remember in elementary school wearing uniform-issued shorts under my uniform-issued jumper. How else was I going to hang upside down on the monkey bars without being embarassed..

If you teach your daughter not to show her underwear and don't have her wear shorts, how is she going to be active?

Anonymous wrote:When my family moved to Texas in 1974 from DC, I was shunned by the other girls because I didn't wear shorts under my dresses -- for the reasons this teacher is telling you your daughter needs to. I thought (or at least hoped) times had changed, but apparently they haven't. Good lord.

Stop blaming the schools. This is a direct result of.the so many paranoid parents who think that the rest of the humaity are pedophiles . OP, do as the school requests or take your kif
d out.

Anonymous wrote:So funny to see the different views here. I just thought everyone would put shorts on little girls under dresses. Who new that I was being ultra conservative or a sexual pervert, not sure which one it is supposed to be. I think like a pp that it is more comfortable for the child and makes more sense is all.

+1

Was it Friday Flip-up Day?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No time to read all the replies, but, when I attended Catholic school growing up, all of us wore shorts (when we were older, usually men's boxer shorts, which became some sort of bizarre fashion statement) under our uniform skirts. It was just practical to keep our underwear covered and still allow us to be active in our skirts.

Same here!! I guess that's why I find it so funny that this would be a "new" issue for some new moms of girls!! This has been going on for as long as I am aware, and I am nearly 40! Skirts + school attendance = something worn underneath!

Actually, I should have made that:

Skirts + anywhere = something worn underneath! b/c we do it all the time, not just for school days!

Anonymous wrote:No time to read all the replies, but, when I attended Catholic school growing up, all of us wore shorts (when we were older, usually men's boxer shorts, which became some sort of bizarre fashion statement) under our uniform skirts. It was just practical to keep our underwear covered and still allow us to be active in our skirts.

Same here!! I guess that's why I find it so funny that this would be a "new" issue for some new moms of girls!! This has been going on for as long as I am aware, and I am nearly 40! Skirts + school attendance = something worn underneath!

NP - my 3-year-old wears dresses every day - some days she has shorts/leggings on too, often she wears underwear only - and we've never had a request from the school. I find that bizarre too, OP.