7 yo DD told by teacher she had to share her towel with another girl - AIBU to be unhappy about this?

[VelvetEmbers]

Y3 have just started swimming, and this week it's every afternoon.

Last night DD's towel was so sopping wet it looked like she'd thrown it in the pool. She told me she'd "had to share with Anna" (not her real name). Apparently Anna only had a small towel so the teacher told DD she had to share her larger towel.

Wouldn't have been quite so bad had she dried first and handed it over, but apparently they "both dried together".

Sharing towels is an absolute no-no as far as I'm concerned, for hygiene reasons, but I've been on MN for many years and I know some of my views are odd. I also realise that what a 7 yo reports as the truth can be a different version to that of the teacher. BUT assuming this is what happened, WWYD?

What does the OP suggest the teacher do in this situation?

It's not ideal but was she supposed to leave the other girl soaking wet? How would you feel if your dd was the other girl? I think the teacher did the best thing in an awkward situation and hopefully the girl will bring a bigger towel next time.

Yes, definitely talk to the teacher. This will be a high priority for her. I mean, it's not like she has anything else to do or think about is it?

would not bat an eyelid. always shared towels

My DS had [http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Molluscum-contagiosum/Pages/Introduction.aspx this]] when younger. He had it for 2 years and is still scarred from it now. His GP told us not to share towels/flannels etc.

I dont think YABU

i'd ask the teacher what happpened. and if my son was asked to share his towel with someone i wouldn't like it at all. sharing is for loads of things, but not for swimming towels. yuck.

Ah link failure!

If you feel you need to go in about this, you must be/will be at the school constantly, chasing up the 'terrible' things the school has done.
Are you always so easily annoyed?

unless the other child is not waterproof, I'm guessing that the towel did indeed end up in the pool and the child is covering this up.

this may be because she dropped it, or because another child threw it in.

Yuck, definitely not. Pretty sure this is how worms are spread.

YANBU

For people who are worried about children passing things on to each other - have you ever actually been around a large bunch of children? You do realise just how unhygienic they are, don't you? There is absolutely no need for towels to be shared for things to be passed on, the children take care of that quite nicely on their own snotty germfactories

I do hope poor Anna didnt catch anything too grim

All this talk of worms - have you ever seen school toilets???

You are massively over reacting , they are little kids .

Thanks for all these responses. Pretty even split between get a grip and how awful . I'm not one of "those" parents and I don't think I've ever been in to see a teacher unless it was parents evening since she started in reception.

I'm going to ask school what actually happened and say I don't want her sharing towels in future. Perhaps if others are more laid back they won't mind.

I would have said YABU before DD caught impetigo and worms at school...pleasant.

YANBU I think.

Yanbu if this is what happened, for me it is unhygienic and opens up the chances of transferring contagious afflictions, including nits and worms. That aside another issue for me is that the need to share the towel means that neither children are able adequately dry themselves.

All makes me a bit skeevy and I would be firstly checking this is definitely what happened and then advising the teacher it mustn't happen again and ensuring steps are taken by the school to ensure that the parent/carer of the child without sufficient drying materials was informed of the requirements going forward

Has nobody considered that they have been swimming in the SAME WATER - OMFG. Someone call social services...

FFS. Seriously - what a complete and utter over reaction! It's a towel, FFS.

YANBU. Have a quick word with the teacher to suss out what actually happened first, but if it is as your dd suggests, then I would have no qualms at pleasantly but clearly telling the teacher that you are unhappy about it from a hygeine point of view and that you will be telling your child not not share again. Yes as a one off nothing is likely to happen, but it's just ...ewww.

For me, I would not be fussed at all.

If it happened more than once I would be a bit pissed off that DD wasn't getting the full benefit of her own towel

But as a one off no probs.

I can kind of understand that other people might not like it though.

I might be more understanding of this if Anna had forgotten her towel, I still wouldn't be happy with it but obviously you couldn't leave Anna wet. However Anna did have a towel, just a small one. Couldn't she have dried herself with the small one?

I know it doesn't really make sense but I hate the thought of sharing towels - it's just "ick" to me and I won't even share towels with family members.

For a child and as a one of though I wouldn't be too bothered. Just as long as it didn't become a regular occurrence.

That's assuming that she's being completley truthful here

Yes, speak to the teacher and explain you're rather neurotic, so in future could any towel sharing only be done by children with more generous parents than you, please?

YANBU, yuck.
Quiet word with teacher to ask that it doesn't happen again and to suggest they take a spare towel?