To think there are far too many dressing up days at school these days?

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Between now and Christmas we have dressing up as superheroes for Children In Need, Pyjama Day, and Christmas Jumper Day.

Before Half Term we had Roald Dahl dressing up and dressing up as cowboys for Harvest Festival.

I have three kids. This is a lot of dressing up.
Between all these events we will have donated £15 to charity. This is fine. What's not fine is that even with a lot of making do, we will have spent far, far more than £15 on bits and pieces to supplement their many costumes.

To make it harder, while 2 out of my 3 kids are fairly laid back, I have one oversensitive one who hates dressing up but also hates looking different from everyone else, so he gets emotionally conflicted to the point of tears most times

YANBU, but I hate dressing up with a passion.

I don't mind it and I didn't used to mind making costumes, but I think I've reached saturation point!

Superhero day for children in need here as well. He'll be dressing up but not giving to children in need. I'd rather give straight to his special school but I'll just watch the programme and choose which one to give directly to so they actually get my entire donation.

And I'll have to give DS his spiderman costume I bought him for Christmas early for it

We have about 3 or 4 a year I think.

I think one a term would be about right!
Hopefully they're all clustered this term and we won't have 5 next term too and another 5 in the summer....

Yanbu. My heart sinks when I get a letter or text informing me of it. Not keen on them going in their own clothes either as I spend enough on buying the chuffing uniform. It is easier though than having to get them to wear a particular outfit. I usually don't bother and send them in their uniform.

Must be great if you're creative and can make up an outfit, sadly I can't. My mind goes completely blank.

Not school related but is dressing up related.

I couldn't believe what I saw in Marks & Spencer on Friday. I don't know what they were promoting but one woman (40s?) was wearing what's called a red with white spots onesie and handing out leaflets. I asked her why she'd come out in her pyjamas this morning. Another woman (let's say 'much more mature') was wearing a cardboard box with her arms poking through the box sides. This was M&S!! They must be desperate to stoop to this level.

As for dressing up so often at school, I'd be asking why a uniform is so necessary if they hardly ever wear it. I worked at a school and the staff dressed up one day (can't remember what for). I togged myself up as Stirling Moss and told the girls who I was when they asked. They all asked, "Who's that?" :-(

Why didn't my sad face work?

Oh.

It does sound excessive. We seem to get two or three a year. But we never get pj day/ jumper day. So it's making 4 / 6 costumes a year. It does turn out pricey even with a huge fabric stash from my 20's to work through!

YANBU Children grow, so even Christmas jumper day is an annual purchase (and definitely one we wouldn't make anyway).

Yes Pico.
I've bought my youngest an enormous Christmas jumper to try and get 2 years out of it. Even so, the cost will dwarf the amount of the charitable donation.
Last year I just blinged up a normal jumper with tinsel and he was the only one who did that!

HappyAgainOneDay Every day is a day for learning, that day you taught the children who stirling Moss was,

YANBU

Yanbu, I can't sew to save my life and it seems silly to spend £15 on a sweatshop-produced Spider-Man costume to give £1 to Children in Need. I'm quite happy with non-uniform days however.

DS's school don't seem to have too many of these days although he's only in nursery at the moment so I am sure there will be more (pirates/cavemen) to come.

Maybe worth raising it with the PTA?

Thankfully my kids are happy to go in normal clothes, though they are older.

Gosh, hat is far too many. Can you talk to someone on the parent tea her committee? I bet most parents would rather a cutback

I can't sew to save my life and it seems silly to spend £15 on a sweatshop-produced Spider-Man costume to give £1 to Children in Need.

This. Thankfully my DDs finished primary school before dressing up took on the proportions it's reached now, but I used to dread the Book Day dressing up - I was a single parent, short of both time and money, and it was a right royal PITA trying to think of something easy and cheap every year. Some of the OP's examples sound frankly silly. Why on earth cowboys for Harvest Festival? Don't get that one at all.

I feel bad for the M&S women in HappyAgainOneDay's post. How degrading and embarrassing for them.

I confess I didn't go to the Harvest Festival so I never found out why cowboys

Good idea to talk to someone on the PTA - the chair is dd's friend's mum.

Half-drunk, exactly.

I actually do rather like sewing, but I'd like to do it once a year, not several times, and even the stuff that ought to be simple like wearing something spotty or pyjama day isn't as straightforward as it sounds because you end up in negotiations with your child over whether their spottiest t-shirt has actual spots or just splodges, or all their pyjamas have Thomas or Iggle Piggle on them and they don't mind wearing them at home but not to school, etc etc.

I want once a year, with plenty of notice.

It is the one week notice for these things that annoys me. I too will be giving be a christmas present early to save me from having to make another costume.

Out of interest, do teenage mutant ninja turtles count as superheroes?

i had 2 days notice for a pirate day. Last year we had 2 dress up days in one half term. Although by far the worst are the history off the page day. Parent are charged something like £7 for this company to come in and they suggest we can purchase a costume for £30

YANBU. I loathe them.

YANBU.
Schools seem to think people spend all their time sitting at home twiddling their thumbs! Clearly we all have far far too much time on our hands and oodles and oodles of spare cash to go and keep the local fancy dress shops in business!

Hate dressing up with a passion.