To think my friend is taking the Nativity play a bit too seriously

[justfloatingpast]

She's been on the phone to me for ages complaining that the part of Mary has gone to a girl who only joined the school a few weeks ago and her daughter has asked to be Mary for the last three years (she's 8) and has never been cast and it's really not fair etc etc etc

I presume practically every girl in the class puts their hand up when asked who wants to be Mary this year, and the teacher has to pick one child.

My friend is really annoyed and wondering if she should say something to the teacher. Her daughter isn't a child who's constantly being overlooked. She plays on the school football team and was part of a group who won a prize for a project and were featured in a local newspaper.

AIBU to think she's over reacting and should just let it go?

Mary is such a boring part. I was King Herod and is was great to play a villain. My sons nativity never had King Herod in - was really disappointed.

I was always the narrator. In school uniform! Not even a costume. I was gutted. Oh for a coat hanger wrapped in tinsel on my head.

My DD has so far been part of the sky (who knew that was a part?) a camel feeder (ditto, but I guess everyone deserves a meal) and a mouse (I hadn't thought about it, but I guess the stable was riddled with them).

Mary has always been the blonde TAs daughter

I was always in the background playing the bloody glockenspiel!

Until one year when I was Mary, yay!

That was the year Mary had no lines and the only excitement was swinging around in circles with Joseph as someone recited the Owl and the Pussycat (WTF?)

I was never in a nativity play. I don't recall us doing one in infants or juniors. Parents never got invited to anything.

We did all attend the local church and some children were dressed up for a nativity scene but it didn't include any dialogue just the vicar reciting the story.

with the self penned addition ‘But really its a fish fingers box that my mum covered.’

😂

DS was a shepherd in pre-school nativity, wearing the comfort sheet he wouldn’t be parted from instead of the traditional tea towel. He was sitting next to the manger when the 3 kings came in and put their presents right next to him! bad stage management I’ve always thought because naturally he thought they were for him and started unwrapping them!

I was invariably a sheep. Every year. Baaaa

At ds's school Mary is cast because she has a certain look. Blonde hair and blue eyes every time. As a result of this I fully expect 2 year old dd to be cast as Mary at least once when she gets to school. Won't be a problem for me if she's not though. I was always an angel or villager.

I’m still bitter Mary always went to the blonde girls

The blondes were always angels at our school. Mary had to have long dark hair.

Yes, she seems to be well over-reacting. Pushy Parent Alert! Pushy Parent Alert!

PeachyyPeachTrees
I do hope the three Babushkas sang a rousing chorus of Kate Bush’s Babushka

I would guess that your friend never got to play Mary when she was at school?

Our school never does traditional nativities. Last year my DS was a laptop. The year before he was Goebbels. No, that's not an autocorrect.

Goebbels!? Christmassy :o

It actually really was! It was a tie-in with their project on WWII and was about children in an air-raid shelter on Christmas eve worrying about whether Santa would get shot down (spoiler - he didn't and their presents were there when they came out in the morning). I spent years hoping for the chance to make a tea-towel shepherd's headdress though and never got the chance - he's in high school now and they don't do Christmas plays at all :(

I was Mary in primary school. Clearly rocked it as was pencilled in for a repeat performance the following year until it was decreed that there would be solo singing. I was then recast as Herod's slave girl and wore pink harem pants a pink sequinned bikini top.. which was a bit of a costume departure from dressing gowns and tea towels

I'd be more concerned that there are still primary schools promoting a man made fantasy as fact. Plus the promotion of one religion above all others, also the many, such as me and my adult kids who do not share these beliefs. Thought this was illegal in UK or is the church above the law?! Incidentally, my kids never had a nativity, the last one all those years ago was Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Jannie I am very much not a Christian, and I dislike religion being taught as fact, but I think it is culturally appropriate for my kids to know the nativity story, if only so they can understand the various art around this and the place it has in our society. We do a nativity, but it is put in a "Some people believe that..." context.

They have acted out some Rama and Sita stories too, I don't think acting something out means kids have to believe it.

Exactly how I should have worded it but was half asleep! You put it exactly as how I approach it, I've always had a need to learn and research just about everything. I have total respect for all which is why I touched on promoting Christianity above all others. This often has me on threads in athiest groups where most of them are so smug over theists, re; their obvious high intelligence! Annoying at best. It's far more about vulnerability, loneliness, a need of belonging and, yes, I've dabbled with it. My mental health was pretty severe, and there's the vulnerability. My youngest actually got the part of Scrooge and my oldest, when they did Oliver Twist, was one of Fagin's boys. They are 31 and 27.