We all know what Spirit Day burnout looks like. It’s the end of the year (or the week before a school break) and your kid’s school has sent out yet another email about all the upcoming spirit days. If you’re like me, you’re scrambling, ordering neon shirts off Amazon, and heating the hot glue gun. There has never been a Spirit Week that I have not had to buy something extra or put together some last-minute costume for my kid.
One mom has a particular bone to pick with the ever-popular Pajama Day, sharing that even her kid is over the idea of wearing jammies to school.
“I’m not trying to be a Karen, but I think the whole notion of pajama days and spirit days are getting out of hand,” TikTok user @radionikki admits in her viral video.
Before you call her a killjoy, let her explain how she got to this point.
“So we had 15 special spirit days in December, every single day the kids went to school in December they had a different theme. Pajama Day. Wear your favorite Christmas shirt, and it was fine, okay? I get it. They were just surviving, right?”
She was okay with the December fun. It was a lead-up to the holidays and all the excitement that winter break holds for kids. Why not make it fun? She was all for it, and then her kids went back to school in January.
“They went back to school on Monday, and why? Tell me why! This entire first week back to school is also pajama week. My third grader is over it. He’s like, ‘I’m just gonna wear sweatpants and a T-shirt.’”
However, the OP’s younger son, in the most endearing way, doesn’t understand why he keeps having to wear pajamas to school.
“My first grader is so confused because all the pajama days that they just had in December were Christmas-themed … So he’s getting ready today and he’s putting on all Christmas clothes and I’m like, ‘No buddy, we don’t really want to wear those to school. It’s just regular pajamas.’ And he goes, ‘But I thought all pajama days were Christmas days,’ and we’re so focused on this instead of actually learning,” she finished.
As TikTok users weighed in on the OP’s video, they had a smattering of opinions. Some agreed with Nikki while others wanted to clarify that teachers have nothing to do with how spirit days are decided.
“I don’t think the days interrupt education but I do agree that they are getting to be too much! Our kids school had OBNOXIOUS themes that you couldn’t just throw together at home! Annoying!” one user said.
“[T]eachers don’t get to determine any spirit days, it’s admin or student council pending grade level. [T]eachers are still teaching and kids are still learning regardless of what’s being worn,” another said.
Another wrote, “we only do the week before Christmas and like homecoming and stuff like that. [B]ut even then I let my kids choose if they want to participate or not. [I]t becomes too much.”
One user noted, “This is a perfect example of too much of a good thing = a bad thing. I love spirit days/dress up days, but it can be too much! It should be scattered in throughout the year for special things!”
This is a great point. Is a Spirit Day even worth doing if we’re doing them all the time? What kind of “school spirit” are we fostering if it just becomes another chore for parents and kids?
