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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To buy DS and DD bags for school/pre school that are not branded!!

112 replies

ThePosieParker · 26/08/2011 23:38

I bought dd this to put her lunch box in and this for DS3 for his first pre school bag to put a chnage of clothes in. DH said that dd would have preferred Hello Kitty but I have a real aversion to logo/branded stuff.

AIBU to buy what I like???

OP posts:

MilaMae · 27/08/2011 21:29

My dd has that owl bag,had it last year and she's going into Y2,another girl got one soon after so you'll get years out of it.I bought it for quality,function,I like my dd looking like a little girl and....... I like owls. She has the lunch bag too,it's fab to wash,just turns inside out.

Did buy my twin boys 7 the monkey ones but they went back as dp said they had "tease me" written all over. I was gutted but he was right.

Told dd she could have Hello Kitty slides-she's happy,I'm happy.

MilaMae · 27/08/2011 21:31

Said owl bag fits swimming kit in,hat,suncream and a coat.They're fab but she'll need a bigger one for Y3 next year.

diddl · 27/08/2011 21:32

How is it not branded when there´s a label with the make on the front?

mrmistoffelees · 27/08/2011 22:11

I've been looking for a backpack for my dd who starts reception in a couple of weeks and also really do not want a Disney, Hello Kitty, or Charlie and Lola type bag.

I considered one of the Skiphop Zoo bags but they were far cheaper than that, on Amazon, they were probably half the price. I had not realised they are usually that price!

Schnullerbacke · 27/08/2011 22:19

UAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVUUUUUU but only because you just posted this now, after I bought lunch box (unbranded) today. Very cute stuff, wish I had seen this earlier.

LittleMissFlustered · 27/08/2011 22:56

What's wrong with just getting them something they choose? My daughter had a ruby gloom bag she scored from a friend of mine last year, but is using a doctor who satchel that came free with a magazine this term. School's about the kid, not you. How can they grow up if we refuse to do so ourselves?

joric · 28/08/2011 07:49

I think DC are often steered away from the things because sometimes they do choose a load of impractical tat.
However, other times the parents get in the way because they want the DC to only have 'tasteful' (and expensive) toys, clothes and accessories. Hence the beautiful but unpainted wooden toy in plain brown box - very appealing to an adult but not so much for the DC.
It's just about showing off.

Original poster

ThePosieParker · 28/08/2011 07:57

Firstly my children get far more play out of more imaginative wooden stuff, plastic is alright for 5 minutes. And secondly the bags were just delivered and DH complained that Dd would prefer hello kitty.....she hasn't said anything. The owl is for a child not yet three. And the price is in euros.

This is not boasting by stealth although says an awful lot about someone who thinks anyone would boast about a school bag!

OP posts:

Original poster

ThePosieParker · 28/08/2011 08:12

Perhaps I meant obvious brand......plus I hate Disney etc branded crap, you do have to teach your children good taste.

OP posts:

Cereal · 28/08/2011 08:20

They're lovely :)

MilaMae · 28/08/2011 08:25

Re toys I am quite fussy too as I care very much about quality of play and I don't like some of the messages toys can give out. However it's all about balance.

Obviously when my dc have money they've saved I have no input however at all other times I steer towards quality toys like Lego,Playmobil,Corolle/Gotz and explain that tat falls to bits,they get bored of and ends up in landfill.My dc are very toy savvy now when they see adverts and are far happier having less but more quality.

Completely off on a tangent here but I told my dc I don't like Barbie,she keeps any other people give but I refuse to waste good money on the whole big boobs,puppy walking,pop star thing. Last Xmas she really wanted the Barbie glitter wardrobe at £50 .I explained she'd glitter the doll(which came separately and was hideously expensive too)once,it would fall to pieces and did she really want to waste all her bday and Xmas money on it. Thankfully I didn't have to say no she chose no for herself and mil spent the money on a beautiful Gotz doll which goes everywhere,has the body of a child and will last forever. Bratz swill never enter this house and she knows that.

Dd recently had a zhu zhu pet(against my better judgement) but I figured she could make runs/homes for it and she has,it's been fab.

I agree some wooden toys don't get played with,but many do over and over again.Some plastic toys get ignored too and the flashing lights/noise stuff aren't that good for play development ie they can make kids lazy and they do tire of them very quickly.

Sorry I don't buy this it's all about growing up shit.My little girl is only 6 and my job is to keep her a little girl for as long as possible,she'll never get to be a little girl again. It's my job to steer her away from what I don't think is appropriate re clothes/accessories/toys and also from turning her into a walking billboard ie Justin Bieber/Glee/HSM/Hello Kitty bags,jumpers,coats etc,etc. I think it's also my job to try and ensure she gets the best possible play for as long as possible.

Said Skip Hop label is tiny you can hardly see it,some of the branded stuff scream their brand from the other side of the street. The quality is often dire on character products ie you're paying for the right to wear the character not the quality of clothes themselves.I resent playing extra just for a name which is why one of my dtwins only has 1 pair of Star Wars pjs and not an entire wardrobe of shite quality expensive clothes just because they have Star Wars stamped on them.

mrsscoob · 28/08/2011 08:28

YABU I do actually think they are nice bags but the way you have chosen to post this and the links makes me think that you really are boasting by stealth despite your denials! They are branded and expensive and you have probably bought them to impress other adults, rather than think what your kids themselves would like.

MilaMae · 28/08/2011 08:29

Also that owl bag is just plain gorgeous .

Op seriously you won't need to buy another bag for years. Both the lunch bag and rucksack are in mint condition and that's after a year of having my dd as an owner.

Loonytoonie · 28/08/2011 08:34

The bags are sweet OP, but are definitely branded, albeit by a logo that isn't recognizable by most. I avoid the branded stuff mostly from a cost point of view, plus whilst I usually buy something 'different' from the norm, it's only because I don't want the coat/bag/lunchbox getting lost among a ton of identical stuff (more work for me to trail through lost property). Also, DC don't really know that the likes of Hello Kitty and Charlie and Lola are branded. To them, their well-liked characters that they can recognize. That said, it's all down to personal taste and I for one draw the line at Bratz and Barbie-looking dolls

GreatNorksOfFire · 28/08/2011 08:34

What Mrsscoob said.

OP, YABU.

Loonytoonie · 28/08/2011 08:37

Good post, MilaMae.

joric · 28/08/2011 08:39

Hmmm OP....I don't believe you.

Hello kitty and Disney says commercial tat....trendy Skip Hop says quality family with good taste.
DD has both, as I said, she has the pink Skip Hop bag herself.
I think you are kidding yourself if you think you are not showing off a bit buying it as a school bag.

misdee · 28/08/2011 08:43

the skip hop bags are lovely and well designed. we have the owl back pck for dd4, which carries her medical kit, snack, change of clothes and the odd small toy, and a bottle of squash.

i also often squeeze in a bottle for ds, nappieas and change of clothes for him as well.

Original poster

ThePosieParker · 28/08/2011 08:46

I'd never heard of skiphop, hence getting them from a site in Europe. I originally typed gorilla bag, for ds, and it came up with a lunch bag on Amazon USA. It took me ages to find said lunch box in Euro, then saw all others available. The price is in Euros too. And a John Lewis lunch box is £12!

OP posts:

diddl · 28/08/2011 08:46

"you do have to teach your children good taste."

Hahahahaha.

And cutesy animal bags does this?

It´s just a version of Hello Kitty, Disney....

misdee · 28/08/2011 08:48

loads of places in the uk stock these

kiddicare.com
baby-years.com (currently running a comp on fb to win a lunch bag)
boots.com
thatcuteage

just those off the top of my head.

misdee · 28/08/2011 08:49

skip hop are huge!! how have you never heard of them?

Loonytoonie · 28/08/2011 08:52

I've never heard of them either.
Mind you, that comes from someone who's nappy bag for all 3 children, was DH's old rucksack

Original poster

ThePosieParker · 28/08/2011 08:55

Well I have no idea how I've never heard of them.....may not have paid the bloody postage. I searched for wanna something, not Skiphop. I need to shop more I think, should I type aspirational shit for people who can't really afford it?

OP posts:

Original poster

ThePosieParker · 28/08/2011 08:57

Diddl. I want them to have nice things and animal cutesy is good for small children, as far away from TV and toy characters as possible.

OP posts:

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