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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

55 replies

DemureNewName · 30/10/2012 16:38

.... 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!

OP posts:
vvviola · 30/10/2012 21:11

(slight disclaimer, and this will probably completely out me... DH & I are military history mad, particularly WW1, so we probably aren't the best indication of reasonableness)

DD1 has been visiting WW1 cemeteries with us since she was 2, she has come to many Remembrance Day/ANZAC Day ceremonies. We have always explained things in an age appropriate way, and she has also had lessons about it at kindergarten. It's part of her history - both DH & I have family members who fought in both World Wars.

Slight tangent, and this will truly out me as it's one of DH's favourite tales: I was away on business once, so DH thought he and DD then aged 3 would take a trip up to the WW1 battlefields. They had a lovely trip, alternating cemeteries and playgrounds as they pottered around Grin. They stayed overnight in a hotel known for battlefield visitors.
DH chatting to DD at breakfast: how many cemeteries did we visit yesterday? (DD liked counting things, and telling us how many of something we had done/seen the previous day)
DD sighs, rests her chin in her hands and says "All of them Daddy"
Cue stiffled laughter from the surrounding tables GrinGrin

gerbilsarefun · 30/10/2012 21:13

my daughter's primary school usually sells poppies, just as it collects for Children in need and a few other charities throughout the year. The children are taught about WW2 around Y4. Nothing 'odd' at all, OP.

Viviennemary · 30/10/2012 21:18

I think it's a great idea.

GhostofMammaTJ · 30/10/2012 21:22

Your friend is odd. They will be taught about it in school (as they rightly should) before long and she will know how very odd she is!

My DC had to take in money for poppies last year and had been told why!! One cause I was happy to give to.

BooBumpDaddyandMe · 30/10/2012 21:25

Not odd at all - "We will remember them" after all.

iago · 30/10/2012 21:31

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.

TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick · 30/10/2012 21:49

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.

TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick · 30/10/2012 21:50

Armistice, even.

TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick · 30/10/2012 21:54

Thanks Sirzy :)

elfycat · 30/10/2012 21:55

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 Shock ). DH was in the army for the whole 22 year thing and Remembrance is non-optional.

myfirstkitchen · 30/10/2012 22:05

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.

CoolaSchmoola · 31/10/2012 00:52

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.

CoolaSchmoola · 31/10/2012 00:53

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

StarsGhostTail · 31/10/2012 01:37

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.

musicalendorphins · 31/10/2012 05:48

Yan odd. Educate your friend.

exoticfruits · 31/10/2012 06:05

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

TheCunnyFuntOfEastwick · 31/10/2012 07:13

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 :)

fanoftheinvisibleman · 31/10/2012 07:22

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

fanoftheinvisibleman · 31/10/2012 07:22

So no, YANBU!

financialwizard · 31/10/2012 07:36

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.

StarsGhostTail · 31/10/2012 08:07

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.

rogersmellyonthetelly · 31/10/2012 08:12

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

rogersmellyonthetelly · 31/10/2012 08:22

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.

ScarahScreams · 31/10/2012 08:24

Stars :(