Is this odd? I don't think so....

[DemureNewName]

.... my DD (3) has a book bag. It is, like 90% of the bookbags I've seen, decorated to make it personal to her.

I have added a poppy to it, for November.

A friend has told me that this is 'odd'.. It's not, is it? I've explained to DD, in age appropriate language, why we've added the poppy and what it represents.

Is it really bad to expect my DD to wear her poppy with pride? SUrely the poppy is as relevant today - for her generation - than it was for ours?

Feeling a bit 'eek' about having stuck it (right in the centre!) of her book bag now!

[Frontpaw]

Not seen a single one today either! I have a walk to work through a very busy part of town. Not even the police or traffic wardens!

[TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick]

My grandmas husband is 87 and is slowly losing his mind :( he was in WW2, and as they landed on the beach at Dunkirk (I think) and his best friend was shot dead beside him, a bullet through the neck which whistled past GHs ear. He still has nightmares now, all those years on.

[FlobbadobbaBOO]

Not odd at all. The DC's have worn them either pinned to their coats or the buggy since birth. The school sells them and this year I have seen quite a few of DS's high school students wearing the enamel badges on their ties already.

[Frontpaw]

Trendy Notting Hill - one poppy sighted in the rush hour (apart from mine). Again, a chap coming out of a hotel.

[Frontpaw]

I'm sure there's a 'My Story' about a boy soldier in WW2. These are a series of kids history books told by a child 'eyewitness'. Good for 7+ ages. Get the kids reading! Too few of them will have any relatives living who remember WW2.

[ScarahScreams]

Stars :(

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

Also, it's never too early for a poppy. Men and women gave their lives for ours, we should remember that with gratitude every single day, not just on 11th November. They are still giving their lives today, not just in terms of life and death, but in terms of their families whom they leave behind, and should they come home injured, they have the rest of their lives to lead with that injury or disability.

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

Not odd at all, and well done you for teaching your dd something so important.

[StarsGhostTail]

I only learnt the full story talking to my mum for DD1's history project.
He never said much to anyone.
I guess like thousands of others he preferred to forget.

Despite his injuries he worked all his life, married and brought up two DCs.

He died aged 85 (of lung cancer having smoked high tar cigarettes all his life. Another legacy of the war)

DMum will have his picture out with a poppy next to it.

He's 16 (he lied, he should have just missed getting to the front) in full kit and looks so proud.
Non of them knew the hell they were going to.

[financialwizard]

Millitary family here too. Our two wear poppies (youngest DD2) and we have explained why in age appropriate terms.

If there is nothing going on in camp for Remembrance (they have been away three years in a row) then we go to a local cenotaph.

I wear a Poppy to remember not only the soldiers that gave their lives in WW1 and WW2 but also all the soldiers since then. Some of them having been good friends of mine.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

So no, YANBU!

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Ds asked for one himself after asking why people wore them. They also sell poppies at his school.

[TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick]

What an amazing story StarGhost, your granpa sounded like an amazing man, and so does the german who helped him.
I have requested MNHQ do a poppy emoticon, there is a link to the thread up there ^^ if you would like one too :)

[exoticfruits]

Not at all odd,and schools are one place where poppies are always for sale anyway.

[musicalendorphins]

Yan odd. Educate your friend.

[StarsGhostTail]

Not odd at all.

I'm guessing I must have been about your DDs age when I first wondered about the large grove in my Granpa's bald head.

Mum must have explained, in simple 3 year old tems that he was shot in the first world war. That's why he had the scar, a walking stick and why he sometimes tickled too hard.

He was partially paralysed, much like after a stroke, and he'd not realise that a gentle tickle had gone between our ribs.

He was a lovely man and never once complained about his difficulties. I shall wear my poppy in his memory and in memory of the German who saved his life.

After he was shot he spent 3 days wandering delirious in no man's land. It was a German who helped him back to the British lines.

[CoolaSchmoola]

YANBU - sorry! Got a little emotional (time of year) and missed the "N" out.

[CoolaSchmoola]

Army family here too and Remembrance is an intrinsic part of our lives. The DC's are growing up not knowing any other. DH marches in the Remembrance Parade, and we go to the Service of Remembrance every year, no matter what country we are in at the time.

We remember those from conflicts past, and those from conflicts very much still in the present. We remember friends. For us Remembrance is not just about those who died many years ago, it's about people we know and love who are fighting now, and some who have given their lives doing so.

YABU - your friend is odd.

[myfirstkitchen]

not odd at all. i will stick one on my babys pram next year (not here yet) coz that baby wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those amazing people the poppy is for.

[elfycat]

DDs 3.9 and nearly 2yo are both wearing poppies (with safety pins, as am I after I picked up DD2 and scratched her face ). DH was in the army for the whole 22 year thing and Remembrance is non-optional.

[TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick]

Thanks Sirzy :)

[Sirzy]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/1600483-Could-we-have-a-poppy-emoticon-for-Armstice-day?msgid=35093047#35093047

Link to cunnyfunts thread!

[TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick]

Armistice, even.

[TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick]

I have requested to MNHQ that they do a poppy emoticon for Armstice day, thread in site stuff if you fancy a look and maybe a post. I can't link as I'm on my phone.

[iago]

But why so early? I have always (I am in my 60s) bought a poppy and talked about it in school in the days when the idea had long fallen out of fashion but I really don't understand why poppies are being worn 2 weeks before 11th November on television and elsewhere.