FFS just seen a text instructing my dc to 'be spotty and bake a cake' on Friday

[stripystars]

It came earlier today, not that it would have helped had I seen it earlier. So that's 2.5 days notice to come up with a costume. They have nothing spotty (stripes we have aplenty but no spots). I work f/t and we don't get in until 6 both nights and ds has cubs on one of the nights too. I also have work to do once they are in bed.

Why do schools fucking do this? It's hard enough, especially when you work and are a lp. Happy to support charities, but no time to conjure up spots and cakes midweek.

I got a plain white tshirt (white school shirt would work) and used their paints to paint spots on. I also used a marker pen and wrote children in need 2016 (or whatever year) on the back.

The children are making the cakes in school at Golden time, ingredients provided, at DD3's school. DD3 will be wearing her blue leggings with white spots and pink and white spotted hair band. I got the text about it on Tuesday, straight after DD3 had told me anyway.

You are all making your own lives difficult. Buy cake. Don't rush around Sainsbury's. walk calmly. Pick up a pack of cake. Buy. Heck, buy a spotty tshirt too. Or don't. Meh.

Donations are donations. Pay or don't pay. That it what a donation is. Give a pound to that charity or don't. Meh.

Since when did Children in Need = spots anyway? It seems to have been in the last few years

It used to be bring 50p/£1 and wear your own clothes, pyjamas or fancy dress or bring a game/toy in.

You are all making your own lives difficult. Buy cake. Don't rush around Sainsbury's. walk calmly. Pick up a pack of cake. Buy. Heck, buy a spotty tshirt too. Or don't. Meh

It's not that easy. Many parents don't have the time or money to do an extra supermarket trip to get this stuff. I'd quite happily not do these things but my dc would be devastated to get to school and be the only ones not in the appropriate fancy dress!

Totally agree op.100%nightmare

Cakes are £1 from any supermarket. Old t shirt, draw spots on, done.

Don't contribute too much, this charity has colossal overheads.

Cakes are £1 from any supermarket. Old t shirt, draw spots on, done

See, it can be simple and not a faff BUT it's not a one off is it?! These things seem to be all the time!

The DC's school has said they are to have spotty faces and unusual hairstyles for CIN. Well DD has eczema and we don't have facepaints any more. May risk some lipstick dots but she's not keen. She's yr6 and thinks this crap is for little kids :o DS has flatly refused and just wants to give money and buy a cake. I'm letting them do what they want.

I got a plain white tshirt (white school shirt would work) and used their paints to paint spots on. I also used a marker pen and wrote children in need 2016 (or whatever year) on the back.

I get that this is an easier solution, so I'm not knocking the PP, but I still think it is problematic. Aside from the (seemingly) marginal cost (which can still be beyond the means of some low income families), it's so bloody wasteful to blow a shirt which has taken considerable natural and human resource to manufacture and transport on a silly event. It just sends a shitty message about our throw away culture when we have a planet with finite resource and a rapidly growing population. If it's supposed to be an exercise in rapacious consumerism & training up the next generation of consumers then

Someone can nowhand me my ranty killjoy certificate, but honestly! (tuts)

buy some duct tape and cut it into circles and stick on random top.

or draw spots on DC's face with eyeliner. colour in.

no need to go mad.

don't bother with cakes

Draw spots like measles on the child.

Ultimate MN hack: send your child in with the full blown pox.

DS has two fundraising non-uniform days this week, and the CIN theme is "wear something wacky". Urrrrgh.

PJs or just normal non uniform would be much better.

This would really stress me out. My son isn't even at school yet!
I agree with a PP though, the stress comes because you don't want your DC to be left out and when I was a child you do anything to fit in with what everyone else is doing. Last thing you want is your child to be upset because they didn't come in with a spotty top or whatever.

Also, WTF at children having to go in dressed from the 80s. What are they thinking with that theme???

Dont panic i used either a bingo marker on white t shirts or those spot stickers and just stick them all over whatever they worse and i cant bake so used to buy a tray bake from the supermarket and cut it up stick it in a tupperware job done.

Wore* sorry

Same at my children's school. Bake a cake and dress spotty.

We haven't got any spotty clothes, I'm not going to ruin any clothes drawing on them and I'm not going to buy any either. The point is raising money for charity not giving more to supermarkets. My kids will just go in non-uniform with their £1.

I feel so sorry for the parents that don't have the money for this shit. It is the responsibility of schools to teach our children not no be raising money for every bloody cause that comes along. Once or twice a year is fine but once a month as it seems to be these days is disruptive to learning and puts parents under pressure to produce.

Slightly off topic but...My friends little boy lost his poppy at school last week. After paying £1 for his first one, his mum sent him back with 50p for the second one. The school refused to give him one as the minimum donation was £1. I'm not sure what message we are trying to send to our children there?

I had a text at 2.45 once about sports clothes day the next day
so straight from pick up we had to go shopping on the credit card.

I have boys and they have no spotty clothes. I didn't want to buy anything new - if I'm spending money I'd rather it went to CIN than a retailer - and the only CIN t-shirts I found were sort of leopard print and very pink (and while I'm a massive opponent of gendered clothes I know in reality my son wouldn't wear anything he deems to be 'girly'). Similarly, I had a look at the CIN website which helpfully suggested painting your nails spotty or wearing a spotty hairband. Neither of which appealed to my hulking great y5 son (though my little one was very up for painting his nails spotty - I have NO idea how you would do that though?!). So I bought two pairs of Pudsy ears from Boots for £2.50 each and they can wear those with their own clothes.

I don't mind an occasional dressing up day, but this one seems particularly badly thought out by CIN. Pyjamas are much more sensible - everyone has those!

It always surprises me when schools say 'wear old clothes'.
Who has old clothes that still fit?

All these days massively piss me off. We get lots of pointed letters home about the importance of school uniform, and certain bits of uniform can only be bought in certain places and altogether is outrageously expensive. Then, a mufti day.

Also, if its not a charity I support, or I'm sceptical where the money actually goes, I'm caught in a bind: who wants to let their DC be the only ones left out because of mummy's ideas?

There was also the time when, a few years ago I was on the bones of my arse, and didn't have any spare money. Very awkward trying to swerve the charity pot being pushed in your face all the time.

My ds has decided on cutting some circles out of card and sticking them to his clothes with double sided tape. As it happens I found a very cheap round punch and he can have as many damn circles as he likes. He's 5 and this is something he can do himself.
Nobody has asked me to bring in cake yet, but I suspect if that's going to happen there will be a "reminder" on Thursday. They're very good at sending out last minute "reminders" when there either hasn't been an initial request or it's been buried in attachment no. 7 of one of the four weekly emails.