A rant about dressing up days at school…!

This is my face. Ok, it’s not my face, but it’s the look that was on my face this morning, when my children informed me of YET ANOTHER dressing up day at school.

I am an ogre (except I hate dressing up, so I stomp about angrily like an ogre, I just don’t dress like one) about dressing up days at school, and frankly I think there are too b****y many of them. Seriously? Why? Do schools think we parents have nothing better to do than make, create. buy, beg, borrow or steal costumes, and ridiculous get ups for our kids to wear for ONE DAY at school?

We always get told “don’t spend any money, just use what you have at home, think creatively”. But the last costume effort was “dress like a working class woman in the time of Charles Dickens” and I don’t happen to have a) clothes that look remotely like what someone of that era would wear, b) a sewing machine to make such things or the time or skill so of course we HAVE to buy stuff.

I get that it’s fun and all, and it encourages creativity (well not mine, it just encourages me to use words that I shouldn’t use when my children are present!) and all that drivel but it’s annoying and it just puts more pressure on parents who already have enough on their plates and the kids who’s parents don’t make any effort (I hate the whole thing but I always do sort them something out to wear) feel left out.

Next week, my tweenager has to go to school dressed as a “famous London sportsperson”. I mean, really? I have no idea of who, off the top of my head, any famous London Sportsperson might be, and why she needs to be one, I also don’t know.

But that’s not all. My small son, is apparently a cyclops for a wax museum display his class are doing next week, too.

Cyclops, you would think would be easy? Just draw an eye on his forehead and call it good? Erm, apperntly not. He needs to look authentic.

Amazon, have this on offer…

For the princely (but not so handsome looking) sum, of £35 I can send my son to school looking like this. He can terrify his peers and traumatize the younger kids in the school! if I told you there are even worse and more expensive options than this, available, I wouldn’t be joking.

Safe to say, we won’t be buying this. At this point I have decided I am sending him into school wearing his sunglasses with an eye painted on his forehead, he can be a modern day, millennial cyclops, or something.

I freaking hate that schools think that making parents sort out costumes and nonsense for things at school is something we have to do. I love teachers, teachers are amazing, but when I get told or letters come home, asking for costumes, I do question why they think it’s a good idea, or how much hassle it is for parents. If you are a teacher, I would love to hear why?

One of the good things about secondary school is the generally don’t do this stuff and I will have only one kid left to bring home letters that fill me with dread and send me to Amazon to buy costumes we will never use again. (the less said about expensive school trips we are expected to stump up for, the better, that’s a whole other blog post I will be writing one day, I am sure!)

I personally would ban schools asking our kids to dress up, but then I am just a miserable old bag, aren’t I? Maybe I need the cyclops costume?

What do you think? Do you LOVE it when your kids come home saying they need costumes or to dress up for school, and you whip out your sewing machine, or dressing up box that is carefully stocked for such occasions, or do you, like me, cringe, and mutter less than polite things?

Happy Friday!