Yesterday morning was the first spring-like day in weeks. Rebecca decided to dress for school in a tiny denim skirt. I commented that, in my opinion, it was too short for school and that she should think about putting on something else, but left the decision up to her. She went to school with the skirt on. We got a call from the office that she needed us to bring her something more suitable to wear. She and about 8 other female offenders had been rounded up and told to put on something else or they wouldn't be allowed to go to class. Observations:

1. This is the same argument I had with my parents, who simply did not allow me to wear short skirts. This required innovation on my part (and on the part of many girls of my generation) and I learned to pull up my skirt and roll over the waistband until it was sufficiently short. I was never sent home for inappropriate attire, as I straddled the line between short enough for me and too short for the school.

2. Dress codes are generally the province of lazy minds. The teachers believe that certain clothes are a disruption (some legitimately are - shirts with obscentities or ethnic slurs on them, pants that are replete with enough chains to haul a bus out of a ditch) and choose to eliminate the clothing rather than dealing with what they believe to be fall-out. The world does not come to a crashing end if short skirts, tight pants, or tank tops are worn.

3. Boys seem to be somewhat exempt from the effects of dress codes, with the exceptions of tank tops and the chains-on-pants fashion statements. Their wildly baggy pants that sweep the floor, creating a hazard for all walking near them in the tight corridors of the schools are not targeted, nor are combat or camouflage clothing.

4. We have a dress code at work that requires "business casual clothing" - no jeans, no sneakers, no t-shirts. I've believed for years this is a bad business decision and we'd be better served by opening up the dress code to more casual attire (even before the dot com boom). After battering my head bloody on the wall that is the attitude which believes that some semblance of business dress is required to fuel the engine of our company, I've given up on changing this.

5. If we're going to have dress codes, then we need to target the real offenders - the mismatched clothing, the soup-stained ties, the polyester pants, the ghastly colors that are out of fashion and out of season, the tasteless apparel that is worn by many. If we're going to do this, let's do it right - get in a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy team and evaluate everyone coming into work every day. If you don't pass their test, you get docked for the day. We'd get rid of those tacky Dockers, shirts that strain across the results of drinking too many beers, chipped nail polish that doesn't match the outfit, and all other manner of offensive dress.

Dreams: The family room (which is a wreck right now, between Rebecca co-opting it as a second bedroom, the painters and just general junk) was stripped bare of furniture, except one small new table. We are getting new sofas, but they won't be here for a while. Perhaps a comment on my obsession with being on time.