Business casual

My daughter's class is doing something hilarious today. They've divided into groups of three or so kids each, and each group is doing a sales presentation. What are they selling? Planets. Her group's planet is Earth, which I'd say is a really easy sell.

I gave her a little coaching (I used to be in commissioned sales, and I was quite good at it), explaining that she needed to be selling "benefits" instead of "features". And we talked a little about what made Earth a better choice to buy than, say, Mercury. Or Pluto. Because Pluto's not even a real planet. Earth comes with its very own creatures! Ponies! Puppies! Kittens! And those wacky people, too!

But the part that cracks me up was the note the teacher sent home. The kids, fourth graders, are encouraged to wear "business" clothes.

I'm lucky in that Susie can fit into most of my clothes now. She's still a few inches shorter, and a bit skinnier, but she's able to wear some of my skinny clothes (especially those with elastic waistbands). This morning, she was up before me (rare on a weekday) and was raiding my closet. I sent her to the upstairs closet, because I don't wear suits to work anymore. She found a suit that I vetoed (it was expensive!) (and too big), but then settled on a really cute vintage jacket that was black and white plaid. There's a black skirt of mine that she's worn several times, and I found her a plain white blouse.

I wasn't involved in the planning for this presentation; the girls stayed after school on Friday to work on it. I know there's posterboard involved. I'm a little bummed, though, that they're not going with a powerpoint presentation with that enthusiastic soft-rock business motivational music. Because that would totally rock.