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Is school right to ban pajamas ... for parents?

Get the kids up, feed them breakfast, make their lunch, drive them to school. So far so good.What am I forgetting? Clothes. For myself. Yes, sometimes I wear pajamas when I drop the kids off at school. What’s the big deal, considering I usually don’t get out of the car?According to one school, this is not so good.The school, according to a BabyCenter.com report, has a dress code for parents,

Get the kids up, feed them breakfast, make their lunch, drive them to school. So far so good.

What am I forgetting? Clothes. For myself. Yes, sometimes I wear pajamas when I drop the kids off at school. What’s the big deal, considering I usually don’t get out of the car?

According to one school, this is not so good.

The school, according to a BabyCenter.com report, has a dress code for parents, which includes banning them from wearing PJs while dropping kids off. Last year in the UK, a school district also banned “bedwear” and asked parents to dress properly and “show decency and respect when attending school premises.”

In yesterday’s Crib Notes column, we mentioned this "No PJs" rule, and based on the more than 130 comments on our Facebook page, it touches a nerve.

Some of you are proud pajama wearers, as one commenter wrote:

Sorry, but as long as my kids are presentable and clean you have no right to tell me what to wear to drop my kids off. Aren't there worse problems to address? I mean, come on!!!

And another says:

Schools should not be able to tell parents how to dress! I almost always wear my pj's for drop off -- but I stay in my minivan! getting the kids ready -- reviewing homework and getting breakfast in them and packing healthy lunches & snacks -- mornings are full of much more important things than how I look.

For others, wearing jammies is just downright inappropriate, as one poster put it:

Moms should have more pride in themselves than to show up at their childs' school looking like they just rolled out of bed, even if they did!

Another dissenter said:

I've always had an issue with adults that go beyond their front porch in their pajamas...shopping, school drop off, whatever the case may be...make an effort to properly clothe yourself for the task at hand....

I admit, I've curtailed my habit of wearing pajamas to school dropoff, thanks to an incident last year.  I was driving away from my son's school when I noticed the car in front of me had its trunk door ajar. As the car went up a hill, contents of the trunk spilled onto the street. I got out of my car to help the driver collect the stuff, totally forgetting I was wearing my PJs.

I mostly saw smiles from the other drivers behind me. But I’m guessing my kids would not have loved the sight. So, now, if ever I wear my pajamas, I make sure I have a coat covering them up. And I stay in my car.

What do you think? Is it OK to wear pajamas when you drop your kids off at school?

Kavita Varma-White is a Seattle based writer and editor and the mom of two tweens. In between cheering on the sidelines for numerous soccer and baseball games, she is contributing editor for TODAYMoms.com and MSNBC.com.