An Indiana mom is reminding parents that sending young toddlers and children to preschool with stained but clean clothes doesn't have to be a dealbreaker or a sign of poor hygiene.
Marla Branyan, a mom of two, shared her take in a now-viral TikTok video about the topic. She told "Good Morning America" she came to her conclusion after reflecting on her 3-year-old daughter's well-loved clothes and realizing the financial toll of trying to keep up with endless wash cycles and buying new clothing.
"I had this lightbulb moment where I thought, 'If she's getting these stains at preschool, why can't I just send her back with the clothes clean, with the stain still there, if they didn't come out?' It was a really pivotal moment for me because I feel like it gave me a lot of freedom, and it reduced the stress," Branyan said.
Branyan, who has a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, said it used to bother her when her kids would frequently come home with stained clothes. She said her 3-year-old in particular loves to paint and color and tends to have some sort of stain on her clothes after a busy day at preschool.
"When my oldest child was little, I focused a lot of time and energy trying to get stains out of his clothes. I don't know if it was being a first-time mom with my first child that I was just very cautious and maybe feeling like there was judgment occurring that maybe wasn't even there," the 37-year-old recalled.
"With my daughter … because her clothing was coming home so stained and dirty so frequently, I was starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed and a little bit stressed out," she continued.
But Branyan said reflecting on what was important to her and putting things into perspective helped her manage her stress, a strategy she suggests for other parents who may be struggling with similar challenges.
"When it comes to kids, especially at a really young, impressionable age, I don't think as a society, we should put this pressure on 3, 4, 5, even 6-year-olds [about] their looks. I think they need to be focused more on having fun, learning and making friends," she said.
She added, "Maybe if we focus more on that, maybe later in life, they won't experience or care as much about the peer pressure surrounding looks and name-brand clothing and things like that."
While some commenters on TikTok disagreed with Branyan's stance, the mom said she has also heard from others, including teachers and day care workers who said they prefer young kids attend school in play clothes or casual clothes that can get dirty.
"I just wanted to share it with other parents and other moms out there who maybe had the same struggle that I did, in hopes that they would have a sense of freedom, like I have," Branyan said.
