I really love dress-up days. When I was in primary school, we always went all out with our costumes. Even as a teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in these events. I remember when I had the privilege of being called in for relief work on what happened to be a free choice dress-up day in a girls’ school. There is something fascinating about how merely wearing different clothes to school completely changes the atmosphere. I was in a reception class for the day and we consisted of about 90% princesses, 9% fairies, with a Wonder Woman and ‘My Little Pony’ thrown in there somewhere. The girls spent most of the day swishing their dresses, straightening their tiaras and sprinkling glitter around. One girl, who insisted her name was ‘Snow White’, ate invisible poison apples at random times throughout the day and fell to the ground without warning. Another little ballerina from one of the other classes kept sneaking up on me so that she could show off her fancy tutu. At recess we ate cupcakes and in the afternoon we performed plays. It was one of those days where I couldn’t help but leave with a smile on my face.

I love it when children let magic and make believe and imagination take over. When the simple act of wearing a sparkly dress makes them hold their head higher and gives them a new confidence. If only we carried more of that with us into adulthood. One thing’s for sure . . . I’m looking forward to the next dress-up day.

(Edited from original post written in 2016)

If you’d like to read more of my musings, then take a look at this post where I share my thoughts on that dreaded morning yard duty.

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