Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To return the class bear with a note saying thanks, but no thanks

248 replies

Wailywailywaily · 08/02/2015 16:15

DS has the Reception class Bear to entertain this weekend. The bear has two books full of his previous adventures and TBH he has a busy life.

I'm ashamed to say that he has now spent the entire weekend in his suitcase Blush.

DS gets a lot of homework for a reception child IMO - spellings, drawing and reading - and I can't be bothered to make him come up with an adventure for the Bear as well.

So I was thinking that the Bear seems to need a rest anyway and perhaps it would be just fine to send him back having had a good long snooze?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
CaminanteNoHayCamino · 09/02/2015 10:01

This thread has cheered me up no end. Winner is Metalguru sending the book and bear back in ruined by red wine. Genius.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 09/02/2015 10:07

Count yourself lucky, it could be the sodding school guinea pig!

Bettybodybooboo · 09/02/2015 10:11

Yes think it's a load of old crud and so glad not in my kids time.

metalguru bloody funny.

ChocolateBiscuitCake · 09/02/2015 10:21

Between DS1 & DS2 (only one academic year apart and shared the same reception teacher), we have had the bloody bear for 2 out of 4 half terms…dreading Friday as I have this sinking feeling that the bear is coming back for another week of sitting in his suitcase.

It is a nice idea when children can write, but DS2 can't. So it becomes my homework, which defeats the object, surely?

However, he does always receive a 90 degree boil wash!

UptoapointLordCopper · 09/02/2015 10:22

Respect to CuttedUpPear's bear.

TruthSweet · 09/02/2015 10:28

I think DD1's turn with her class's bear will go down in infamy as it spent Saturday and Sunday morning visiting me in The Priory...

AliceinWinterWonderland · 09/02/2015 10:30

Ds2 brought the class "mouse" home on a Tuesday (on the day he had afterschool club) and it was due back the next morning!! We had everything awful known to man going on at the time - my other ds was ill, the car wasn't working, and my printer was broken.

I will admit to putting a note in his home/school book stating that perhaps they needed to re-evaluate the "homework" they send home for parents, as this was unrealistic. I also said I took the flaming pictures as expected, however, I couldn't get them printed until my car was working, so perhaps the next week. So ds2 took the pictures in the next week instead.

worldgonecrazy · 09/02/2015 10:40

I started reading this thread, thinking "WTF is a class bear?" and finished it thinking "Who dreamed up this particular inmate of Hell?"

Original poster
Wailywailywaily · 09/02/2015 10:42

I will confess that the last time we had the class bear DS came down with V&D bug. I later worked out that every child who had had the bear before us had also had the V&D bug. When one week later the next child also got the bug I did strongly suggest that the bear gets disinfected!

Two weeks ago DS's class was decimated by a D&V bug that by some miracle DS did not get. I am inclined to view the bear as Typhoid Mary and it didn't help improve my enthusiasm for having him to stay.

OP posts:
AliceinWinterWonderland · 09/02/2015 10:45

Typhoid Mary. Grin Send him back in a large freezer bag and say he's in quarantine?

1stMrsF · 09/02/2015 10:50

Waily our class bear came home last weekend, and every previous entry in his diary seemed to be 'This me cuddling bear while I am in bed sick' or 'this is my dog playing with bear'. Yuk! Our entry was therefore 'Bear had a bath in the washing machine and got all clean in the bubbly water' before I would allow him to do anything else LOL!

LoisPuddingLane · 09/02/2015 10:50

Take a picture of him in bed with another bear, and say you didn't see him all weekend.

gingysmummy · 09/02/2015 10:51

I always think the bear needs washed it looks and smells grotty. So maybe take a pic off it in the washing machine. Glad they don't do it at my ds school although we had the bear at my ds nursery. My ds couldn't care less about it and seeing he was to young to write it was all left to me

RiverTam · 09/02/2015 10:52

gosh, I have no idea if DD's class has a Class Bear. Though they don't have homework either so that's a win Smile.

FlorenceMattell · 09/02/2015 10:52

Don't send the bear back ; send a postcard ...

AndHarry · 09/02/2015 10:53

DS has been sent home with the class bear twice. Both times it has had a spa day in the washing machine, along with its bag and outfits, before doing anything else!

gimmecake · 09/02/2015 10:53

One bear we had went to a "celebrity" party! Basically we photographed him with a pair of sunglasses on and a glass of wine and lots of "famous" friends - eg Kermit and Miss Piggy, Barbie and Ken, the Teletubbies... A few streamers draped around them too... ???? top that!

birdofthenorth · 09/02/2015 11:22

Lol to the bear bring Typhoid Mary!

Yanbu to think that class bear adventure competitivity is ridic but Yabu to ignore the bear entirely, at reception age it's a nice thing for the kid to engage in and all you need do is take or draw a picture of them together and write a couple of lines.

MajesticWhine · 09/02/2015 11:33

Hmm, I guess YANBU, for some reason I have always felt the need to be super competitive with the class bear. We took the damn thing everywhere, including the pub.

To return the class bear with a note saying thanks, but no thanks
gemdrop84 · 09/02/2015 11:34

I hated it but to be fair we were all in shock, the night before mil had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it was the weekend before ds' birthday. Not the best of timing. But we got through it, took a photo of the bear and dd cleaning their teeth, meeting ds, took it on our weekly food shop and it picked a treat then when we got home, we had all afternoon tea. I wrote a paragraph for dd to copy into the book and printed a few photos.

windchime · 09/02/2015 11:37

I was always more concerned about the filthy/smelly state of the class bears which came home with DD. Our stories always included when bear went through a cycle in the washing machine and hung by his ears from the washing line for half a day Grin

EveBoswell · 09/02/2015 11:45

windchime The teddies in this house used to be washed and hung out to dry by the ears. Our DCs thought they were in pain and tantrummed until they were unpegged.

Anyway, for the rest of you, just be glad that the bars are inanimate. We had the school hamster for the Easter holidays 46 years ago and it died on us. I had to buy a lookalike to take back for the next term.

EveBoswell · 09/02/2015 11:46

Oh dear! bears. Sorry.

Nameofstreets · 09/02/2015 11:57

We do photos, run down to boots and print them out. Sometimes draw pictures. Captions, speech bubbles. normally kids write underneath. if he REALLY CAN'T be ARSED get your son to dictate some made up stuff and print it out in a kiddy font and stick it next to pictures. The bear has epic adventures, including kissing, leading rebellions, marriage, having babies, giant strops, ninja attacks etc. It's the only way to make the whole thing tolerable (for me).

I HATE the f*cking class class bear, but he is inescapable.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 09/02/2015 12:03

These threads always make me smile ... when we had the class bear a few years ago we went for a walk (admittedly to a beautiful garden with rhodedendrons in bloom) and we took a few snaps of the bear in a tree (with pretty background) Bears like climbing trees right?
Or perhaps he could have his paw in a jar of hunny? (bit messy though!)

I'd definitely try to do something bear related but then I did see a bear in the wild once (actually twice, two days in a row in Japan) So can't help alluding to that.
Class bears bring out the show-off in us all after all Blush
But I do admire those who can go with the beer in front of the rugby on TV shot Grin
Or hibernating a good call this weekend, especially if you've got a pic with some snow in Smile - then bear in bed under the duvet, possibly next to DC in question