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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To let ds1 wear what he bloody wants for world book day

230 replies

mosschops30 · 01/03/2011 19:27

All the years have been given a topic e.g. Cartoon character, film character etc.
Ds1 year is fairy tales.

He will not wear anything I've suggested (Peter pan) he just wants to go as Ben 10 or buzz lightyear.

So Aibu to let him go in what he wants? Why do all these days have to be so stressful, I just can't be arsed with it.
I like to pick my battles with 3 dcs and this just isn't worth it

OP posts:
sparkle12mar08 · 03/03/2011 17:56

Fuck off Snobear, there's a dear...

I'm so pleased that ds's school don't kowtow to this soprt of clap trap. The children were asked to take their favourite book in and they had a lovely extended session talking about their books. That's what BOOK DAY is all about. Not stupid little competitive parenting games and dress up costumes.

Numberfour · 03/03/2011 19:23

Sparkle12mar08, that is a fantastic idea!! Much better than bloody dressing up.

I will suggest it to DS's school.

starkadder · 03/03/2011 19:51

For any fancy dress occasion when I was growing up, my mum used to pin a plastic spider to my "party dress" and say I was Miss Muffett. Was fine by me.

miopus · 03/03/2011 20:18

PLEASE. INSTEAD OF BITCHNG AND MOANING ON HERE - GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR HEAD TEACHER AND DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT THE POINT IS IN DRESSING UP TO READ A BOOK.

delphinedownunder · 03/03/2011 20:29

But Toy Story isn't a book and neither is Ben 10 or Pokemon. Book character day can be great when children dress as BOOK characters, as it generates all kinds of discussions and if the teacher is smart, he or she will have some idea of what the children are going to come as so that relevant snippets of books can be read out loud. Dressing up is fun and that is highly relevant to learning.

thornykate · 03/03/2011 20:31

Ds3 suggested that we could knit him a gruffalo costume Hmm I couldn't even knit a dishcloth at school so he got standard Harry Potter costume which he wears a lot anyway.

Blatherskite · 03/03/2011 20:48

Well, DS loved his first World Book Day at pre school this morning.

They read stories, they roleplayed stories, they did related craft activities and they had a great time. It was way more than reading books in silly outfits and has really brought at least one story to life for him.

Well worth the hassle of finding an outfit Smile

stealthsquiggle · 03/03/2011 21:21

Ditto, Blatherskite. And the highlight of DD's day? - not the pretty dress, or what other people wore, but the fact that the teacher read her book (which she had taken in) at story time.

NormanTheForeman · 03/03/2011 21:23

If I had to go in dressed as a character, I'd go as a Playmobil builder Wink

SnowIsFallingOnLee · 03/03/2011 21:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GrimmaTheNome · 03/03/2011 21:36

The adjective is good - they could go as 'pink' or 'scruffy' or just about anything Grin

miopus · 03/03/2011 22:48

I remember my love of books being inspired purely by a teacher reading to us as we all sat on a rug listening in wonder.

No dressing up, no frills, just plenty of good old attention from a teacher who enjoyed reading to us.

No stress for anyone. In later years we were left to quietly read books of our choice - again, no dressing up.

This "dressing up" idea has to be some cover up for the inept teaching experienced today. Why else is it that young people are so bad at reading and writng nowadays - too much fun ??

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 03/03/2011 22:53

The thought of having to send my kids in in fancy dress would have had me phoning in saying they were sick,

Or sending them in in their jeans and jumpers and saying they were Biff and Chip or was it Kipper.

mitochondria · 03/03/2011 23:04

The dressing up for WBD is also to raise money - at my school we all paid £1 to dress up, money is going here:

www.bookaid.org/cms.cgi/site/index.htm

FunnysInTheGarden · 03/03/2011 23:06

DS1 wanted to be a pirate and so we found a 'favourite' book about a pirate. C'est tout really

CardyMow · 03/03/2011 23:19

DS1 went as Mr Gum (have you any idea how fucking hard it is to find a top hat and a ginger beard for an 8yo??) and DS2 went as George from George's marvellous medicine. DS2 was 3rd placed for the infants. DS1 came second in the juniors, he only lost out to the ma hatter because I dared to buy him a top hat for his costume whereas the mad hatters' mum had made one out of farking paper mache. I HAVE A 5 WEEK OLD BABY FFS!

Rollergirl1 · 03/03/2011 23:23

DD1 had World Book Day today. We had to make hats. DD went in in a rather fetching 'Rapunzel' hat. I work part-time and would not have had time to do this usually. However I was off ill for 2 days this week so was able to make the hat.

I don't find the comments from snobear especially patronising. He's just ill-informed,(he is a "he" from reading his profile?) and/or mis-guided. But especially ill-mannered. Books on shelves don't equate to good parenting. If only it were that simple. I would love to hear what snobear contributed to his childrens outfits. Although he probably has a lovely SAHM who does it all for him. Perhaps she is a middle-aged alcoholic dulled by the drudgery of her husband and children and you are an over-bearing philanderer who loves the sound of his own voice? We're all stereo-types, aren't we?

confuddledDOTcom · 04/03/2011 02:06

I found out on Wednesday when my daughter came home from school, pointed at the ironing hanging up and said "We have to go to school as a character from a book tomorrow and I'm going as Fifi as I've got a Fifi book at Nanny's house" no letter, nuffin. Glad she had the outfit and wanted to wear it. She was quite pleased that her teacher knew who she was.

swanriver · 04/03/2011 10:16

It's easy to find easy costumes, just more difficult persuading your children to be those characters!
We went through a lot of characters and a lot of books before dcs decided what they wanted to be.
Dd loves Inkheart, but she refused to be Meggie because she said she just wore ordinary clothes! In the end she chose a more glamorous more "difficult" character.
Ds picked Horrid Henry, which I thought was foolproof, but at last minute said the stripes had to be yellow not beige Blush I see someone clever just sewed a yellow stripe on a blue shirt. But I didn't think of that...Blush

It does take a bit of concentration just deciding on the costume whether you sew something or not. Certainly the parents have to input a lot.

swanriver · 04/03/2011 10:24

I think the problem is that people feel they have to compete for most creative parent of year award, and feel put down by other parents' efforts, then become thoroughly snarky. Not necessary to feel judged by others or spend loads of time and money, it is after all your choice to get bogged down in difficult costumes. I think we do enjoy doing it sometimes, and in equal measures enjoy complaining/vyying for attention over the stress it causes us.

JemimaMop · 04/03/2011 10:52

Loudlass I know exactly how hard it is to find a ginger beard and a top hat for an 8 year old as my DS1 went as Mr Gum too Grin

Actually he was really baffled as nobody else in his class knew who Mr Gum was! We on the other hand have queued for an hour for Andy Stanton's autograph at the Hay festival, so may be a little obsessive...

swanriver · 04/03/2011 11:20

Ginger beard. Stick orange painted cotton wool balls on piece of beard shaped cardboard. Hang from ears with string? We needed one of those too for a Viking costume, but never got round to making it Blush Now I can see what I could have done...(or ds2 (8) should have)

fifi25 · 04/03/2011 11:29

I had this yesterday, The kids had to take their favorite book and dress as character from it. My 9 year old was going mad refusing to dress up. Shes asked the headmistress and they were all told they had to dress up. I havent got the time to make a costume so ended up buying 2 £5 on offer outfits and a book to match. The 6 year old was ok but the 9 year old was furious. What if you couldnt afford to dress them up or havent got the time to make costumes. I thinks its all wrong. If they want to dress up fine but i think its bloody ridiculous making the juniors do it.

snowegg · 04/03/2011 11:33

YANBU. DS2 went as Darth Vader and looked fab, very dramatic. I was not going to get in a scrap about it, it's been a tough enough week with Y7 offers.

What is unreasonable is that he was the only one in his school dressed up. Apparently only DS1 in the Juniors was meant to do it. Do you think I have done lasting damage? And have I lost the plot?

LyraSilvertongue · 04/03/2011 12:32

My boys were very excited this morning about dress-up day and they got themselves dressed in a few minutes, which never happens on a normal school day. Ds2 was the best harry Potter in his class Grin
I don't know why so many people on this thread are complaining. It's just a bit of fun - lighten up people.