The other morning, when I was on my commute to one of the work projects I have, I saw a mother with a young daughter—no more than maybe three years old. It was obvious that they were running late and I heard the mother actually tell the child that they needed to get going because they were behind schedule. Then I noticed that the little girl was still in her pajamas—all snug and warm with her boots on over the pajama feet and a coat on over the fleece pjs. I couldn’t help but smile. Wouldn’t it be great if I could get away with staying in my pajamas a little longer when I was running late too?
One of my daughters still has a pajama day. Every Wednesday, she calls it pajama Wednesday and goes to school in her flannel pj bottoms. She started this her sophomore year because, as she explained, Wednesdays were the worst day of the week, they tended to be the day when there were lots of tests. So, pajama Wednesday was born years after I thought she was too old to stay in her pajamas all day. I have been figuring out how I can get away with a pajama Wednesday in my grown-up world too.
I am not one of those parents who believe that babies and toddlers HAVE to get dressed every day. Even though I tried very hard when my three were young to stick to a routine and do ordinary things like getting out of pajamas and getting dressed every day, I definitely do not think there is any shame in letting a child stay in her pjs for the day. After all, if you cannot get away with wearing your pajamas all day when you are 1 or 2 years old, when can you really?!