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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find this a bit..icky?

65 replies

DrSeuss · 10/10/2011 20:42

My DS, aged 5, came home with a handmade medal on a bit of wool which the class had made and awarded themselves on the grounds that each child desrved a medal "for being me". He also sang a song, the entire lyric of which seems to be, "123, it's good to be me".

My son is a much wanted, much loved child who is told at least once a day that Mummy and Daddy love him. He is praised often but only when he has done something praiseworthy. I believe my child to be the special but acknowledge that all decent parents believe the same about their own kods. Does he need to have a medal for being him? Will life give him a medal on the grounds that he is a sentient being? I doubt it. As a secondary school teacher, this just makes me think of the kind of little treasure we increasingly get in Y7, who think that the world turns on them and cannot bear failure or criticism of any kind. My line would be, you are all special to someone, even if only to God. However, you are no more special than anyone else around here, so get used to it!

Am I a dreadful cynic?

OP posts:
TattyDevine · 10/10/2011 20:43

Hehe. Yeah, probably. But I do hear ya.

worraliberty · 10/10/2011 20:45

YANBU

It sounds like a sickly sweet Barny the bloody dinosaur song

Kayano · 10/10/2011 20:45

Jesus Christ!

I can't believe this. People question and have issue with EVERYTHING ATM, my head feels like it is going to explode.
Logging for the night

TattyDevine · 10/10/2011 20:45

For therapy, open your mouth wide, stick 2 fingers down your throat and make rampant gagging noises.

Or, cup your hand around as if you were grabbing a cock banana, and make a gesture as if you were wanking milking the cock banana.

There, doesn't that feel better Grin

AuntiePickleBottom · 10/10/2011 20:46

i am doing a parenting course at the moment and it is important to praise a child for just being them...it builds self confidence and self esteem.

amIbeingdaft · 10/10/2011 20:46

Wow, the school do something lovely to encourage the kids to have self worth, and people are still moaning!

Low self esteem is a huge factor in under achievement, and an awful lot of kids don't get the praise and encouragement that yours do.

And WTF has God got to do with anything at all?????????

ImperialBlether · 10/10/2011 20:47

But not every child is a much wanted, much loved child. Not every child is told they are loved - some never hear those words.

Part of helping to educate children is to raise their self esteem. They can't learn unless they feel they are worth something.

You're being very unreasonable. Good for that teacher for making every child in that class feel special. I know what you mean - if everyone's special, nobody is special, but these are five year old children for god's sake.

BobblyGussets · 10/10/2011 20:47

Logging for the night eh Kayano? How many trees do you hopes to fell?

Heh heh

ImperialBlether · 10/10/2011 20:47

Exactly, amIbeingdaft.

pictish · 10/10/2011 20:48

Yanbu - give him a clip round the ear and send him to bed with no dinner. That'll blow his puff out.

doesntfitin · 10/10/2011 20:48

I tell mine to be proud of being them all the time.

So YABU

glitterkitty · 10/10/2011 20:49

Ah, my son told me about this song. Apparently if you are really naughty you have to sing it on your own!

I did think its a bit naff, but dont expect it will make them all full of themselves, its just a song!

upahill · 10/10/2011 20:49

YABU

BupcakesandHaunting · 10/10/2011 20:49

Nah YANBU

What you want to do is brow beat the kids and tell them that they're shit at everything until they prove otherwise.

Alambil · 10/10/2011 20:50

... or he's being nurtured to increase his self worth and self esteem, thus giving him a bigger buffer for when the life knocks occur (which they will)...?

No harm in having an "inflated" self esteem when you're young; it'll soon get beaten down throughout life...

doesntfitin · 10/10/2011 20:50

Whats wrong with being full of yourself anyway?

JeremyVile · 10/10/2011 20:52

Yup, self esteem is a dangerous thing. Especially in a 5yo.
Hmm

Kayano · 10/10/2011 20:52

God dammit Bobbily I can't stay away Grin

One splinter and it was game over...

But it's on because
IT'S GREAT BEING ME!
flashes medal in OP's face

glitterkitty · 10/10/2011 20:52

Well, being full of yourself is not the most attractive trait.... no?

I dont think this is the case here anyway, dosentfitin!

Alambil · 10/10/2011 20:52
BupcakesandHaunting · 10/10/2011 20:52

Beat your own drum. No-one else will beat it for you.

That's what my grandpa used to say. Never forgot it.

amIbeingdaft · 10/10/2011 20:53

And to be honest, I'd dispute the idea that you're no more special than anyone else. Everyone is special in their own way. And certainly every 5 year old is special. Children should not feel they have to earn the right to feel special, certainly not at that age. Those who care for them (parents and teachers) can cherish them as individuals without 'spoiling' them. Don't you ever tell your kids you love them lots, and that they're brilliant? Your outlook saddens me, OP.

JeremyVile · 10/10/2011 20:53

And whilst it's fantabulous that your ds is told every day that mummy and daddy love him, do you imagine that's the case for every child in his class?

alphamummy · 10/10/2011 20:54

If a 5yr old cant blow their own trumpet, who bloody can???

Shit, people are grumpy on here tonight!

ballstoit · 10/10/2011 20:55

YABU

You sound like a lovely teacher, how dare kids expect to be treated in a half decent way? Spoilt little shits.

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