Pinnies have revolutionized P.E.

I never even knew what a pinny was—well, unnamed I am familiar with the team marking strategy that goes way back—shirts vs. skins, etc. But having colored mesh shirts to distinguish soccer and kickball teams has really done a little something to save my sanity twice a week. No longer is my mind spinning from trying to remember which kid goes with which team—mentally trying to calculate if I decided on even table numbers against odd table numbers, or if today I decided to switch it up and it is tables 1,2, 7 vs. 3, 4, 6, 5 or something else random. Which leads me to strenuously trying to mentally categorize the kids into their table numbers while they run down the field. Which leads to why I usually just stand it the shade and cheer for everyone hoping that they figure it out. Once in a while I give my (wo)man-produced whistle to make an announcement or remind them to be conscious about their “accidental” pushing.

The only trouble is that the pinnies don’t actually fit my children. They fall of their small bodies and catch around the elastic at their waists. I have taken to knotting the pinnies on either shoulder (or both for the littlest), an endeavor that takes about 20 minutes of P.E. The more hardcore players who just want to get playing often let the pinny fall to their waist, and they let it hang down in tutu-fashion. Or in their frustration toss it into a tree, to come back to collect later. And then I am back where I started, chasing them around the field asking, “Blue or orange?”