Cunting World Fucking Book Day.

[EssieTregowan]

I thought I was doing so well this year. DS2 wanted to be Newt Scamander so I found an awesome (and not cheap) costume. DD has a proper wand from the Harry Potter tour so she was lending him that and we have the original book. He was prancing around tonight trying it on.

I double checked the email just to make sure it is actually this Thursday (I have form for getting dates completely wrong, in fact just this week we turned up to the dentists a month early...)

'Come as your favourite Roald Dahl character' it says. Fuckers.

I am so so shit at this.

It kind of works as Willy Wonka if you squint a bit.

Anyone else as fucking shit as me? I hate World Book Day anyway. Still, this beats the time incompletely forgot so ds1 went as Charlie Bucket, ie wearing normal clothes.

Sorry for the autocorrect in my post
"There were plenty of things going on ...."
I should have previewed. Which mn would let you edit posts.

We have world Book Day at secondary. Dressing up not obligatory but many of the kids will I expect. (DS - not in a million years.)

Also hated it as a primary school parent. It has nothing whatsoever to do with books or reading but more about stressed parents, Disney costumes and wasted money.

The BEST thing about your children leaving primary school is no more world fucking book days!

As a member of staff in primary school I can only dream of that day.

Possibly outing myself here, but dd's whole school are "doing" the same book and have to go dressed as a coloured pencil. I shit you not.

I mean, what the Jeff?

Ds1 is in year 6 and thoroughly over world book day. He doesn't want to dress up as anything. Is there actually anyone who likes it?

Fucking hate wbd. My dd hates dressing up now and wants to go as a mine crafter as she has a mine craft book. Just not sure it's going to cut it with the long brief we got. They have to inspire the class to read their book, say why it's their favourite and read some of it aloud. Ffs

Our school have asked us to donate a book - which is great except we also have to
a) wear trainers
b) wear a book character costume
c) read a home book the night before and write all details down for an 'accelerated reader' quiz.

DD wants to go as Hal from Amazon Adventue - I was delighted as this basically means jeans and a t-shirt but now she is complaining her hair doesn't look like a boy's (long blonde ringlets) and can I 'fix' this for her

Hating world book day here too.

Fuck world book day, my dds school was going to do theme of animals... so my dds wanted to be a pony and a fox thankfully they scrapped that idea and it's now dress as your favourite character but this year they have to take the book with them as well. i'm thinking of sending them both as matilda

You are not alone feeling this way

I can assure you the characters we will go as won't be literary in any way shape or form !

We never do it at our school. Anything that requires the parents to spend money they don't have doesn't happen at ours. Very occasionally there is a themed day for charity that people can choose to join in with if they want to (different hairstyle etc.) and the behaviour is atrocious. I hate them.

Ds decided he wanted to be Harry Potter.
I raided the dressing up box and made a cloak from an old Halloween costume, other DS rugby tie, magic wand from magic set received for Christmas and almost chopped my bloody finger off took the lenses out of an ancient pair of glasses.
Now he wants a flipping broomstick

Dd's going as the witch from room on the broom. My dm lent us a witches hat, she's had a toy broomstick for ages and I'm thinking of making a cloak from a bin bag. She will just wear her normal clothes underneath. She's only 4 though and her room leader at nursery only specified that we shouldn't spend any money!!

BikeRunSki I hear you - my little retriever has at least three toy pheasants. Not odd at all

*witch's

I was going to start a thread but cba with being flamed.

ds will not be attending school this Thursday, both of us find it fucking tedious, he hates dressing up, I hate having to pay out for it.

This year (new school he is in year 6) they are doing speed date reading, where they have to read to another pupil or member of staff for 2 minutes from their favourite book then move on to the next.

fuck that bollocks.

Our local primary hasn't done WBD for years. It went through a stage of sudden dressup days ("Tomorrow all the children must dress up as something Scottish"- cue frantic digging out of crocodile costume for Loch Ness Monster, or tomorrow (and it was always bloody tomorrow, never next week) all the children have to dress up as a character from a Katie Morag book"- cue panic and bluffing about how those kids were crofters mostly, so boiler suits were fine, honestly!). I suspect it got so out of hand that some parents Had A Word.
I don't care why, it's lovely not to have to faff about with it any more. The kids didn't enjoy it either and there was a fair bit of bullying of the less well of kids whose parents couldn't afford fancy costumes.

My 2 youngest dcs nursery it's dress up but it's make your own and there's prizes for the best (this irritates me) I haven't a clue what to do or how to do it and it's Thursday. I also have the issue that one of my dcs has Autism and learning disabilities so trying to make a costume that he understands is willing to wear is hard work and I haven't a clue what to do.

Easy. Dress him in his normal clothes and he's Danny, Champion Of The World

It's shit. My dd1 is in year 7 so I thought she was done but oh fucking no they still do it in Y7. Fabulous.
We also have to do Roald Dahl charecters. Dd is going as a golden ticket. Two pieces of gold card fastened over her shoulders with ribbon like a sandwich board with golden ticket written on it!

Just to add, ds reads every day, character books and fiction is not his thing.

I think it's fun. DD will be going to nursery dressed as Piglet.

Nothing of use to add but DDog loves his toy pheasant.

"It has nothing whatsoever to do with books or reading"

YES YES I KNOW!!!

I fucking hate this sort of shit. I feel like I have a constant exhausting balancing act between priorities (work, family, kids wellbeing, kids having actual fun, me not going mad) and at the same time a constant balancing act with the dcs about which battles to pick, when to risk the howling outrage, when to put your foot down. Things like this just fuck with all that. It's just throwing a whole load more UTTERLY POINTLESS plates into the plate balancing act just for fucking kicks. I HATE IT.

Roald Dahl character? Fuck off. Just fuck off. Dahl is not that great an author that he deserves sole pride of place in a day of children's literature. He's a sexist, grossness-obsessed judgemental stereotype-ridden old fart. Apart from the POINTLESS inconvenience to you, OP, I am actually really annoyed that he owns this unassailable position which I think is really damaging to children who aren't of that type. The Roald Dahl type. you know the ones.

Basically he's a roaring snob* and some children sense this and feel that they're "in"; others sense it and feel that they're "out". I loathe all this sort of thing which just reinforces existing structures of who feels they are worthy or not.

UGH WORLD BOOK DAY FUCK OFF

• of a certain type - not straight "high social class / rich = good" but he loves a "noble savage". Poor people who are clever and modest are good. Women are all awful and ALL too thin or too fat - there is no medium sized woman in Dahl's universe. Common people, greed, TV - all hatefully satirised. It's obnoxious

One year I sent DS dressed up in a very elaborate home made costume.
It was DHs day for school drop off.
I'd not only got the day wrong but was also a week early.

AntiGrinch I think I love you