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AIBU?

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Original poster

world book day is a pointless, costly pain in the arse for working parents?

698 replies

LumpenProletariat · 17/02/2022 09:18

Does it make any difference to reading levels? As a solo working mum, I find it a total pain and costly too.

OP posts:
HaveringWavering · 19/02/2022 09:29

It's not "just an hour" if you're doing something home made you'd normally need to buy some materials, even if cheap (which would involve going out or searching online) and then creating the costume.

Disagree. You can make costumes from what’s in your wardrobe or from food packaging etc. Unless you literally don’t own felt tips, scissors or sellotape, it’s not a foregone conclusion that you need to buy something. Have you not heard the expression “cut your coat according to your cloth”?

OrganisedChaos22 · 19/02/2022 10:02

We don't have stuff we could use to make our own outfits. My kids have uniform and their everyday decent clothes.
I don't have storage to store extra bits that may come in handy for WBD.
So we end up buying an outfit. But then normally give it away on our local fb page after.
It's an expense I can do without to be honest but it's fun for them so it is what it is.

OrganisedChaos22 · 19/02/2022 10:04

And fwiw I once made ds an outfit.
By time I drove to town
£2.50an hour to park.
£4 material
£4 material pens
£1 for a small sewing kit
=11.50

Outfit in asda £10 /12 (at the time) and saved about 3 hours Inc the getting materials, and making it.

Benjispruce5 · 19/02/2022 10:05

DD now 21. I remember making a 101 Dalmatians costume . It was a white T-shirt and leggings and I drew black spots on with a felt tip. I bought a cheap red dog collar and sewed some white ‘ears’ and covered her Alice band with an old white tea towel and gave them the black spot treatment too. Oh and a tail!

ldontWanna · 19/02/2022 10:11

@HaveringWavering

It's not "just an hour" if you're doing something home made you'd normally need to buy some materials, even if cheap (which would involve going out or searching online) and then creating the costume.

Disagree. You can make costumes from what’s in your wardrobe or from food packaging etc. Unless you literally don’t own felt tips, scissors or sellotape, it’s not a foregone conclusion that you need to buy something. Have you not heard the expression “cut your coat according to your cloth”?

How many times have you sent your kids to school in a costume made from food packaging,felt tips,scissors,sellotape and nothing else?
Hellosunshiner · 19/02/2022 10:37

@Benjispruce5

DD now 21. I remember making a 101 Dalmatians costume . It was a white T-shirt and leggings and I drew black spots on with a felt tip. I bought a cheap red dog collar and sewed some white ‘ears’ and covered her Alice band with an old white tea towel and gave them the black spot treatment too. Oh and a tail!
I totally admire your ingenuity, but even that costs time and money for a costume.

A previously serviceable white t shirt ruined (£3?) because felt tip will not wash well (or out). Black felt tip - negligible, but one felt tip wouldn't go very far on fabric so that's a couple of felt tips gone. Sewing white ears - either you have suitable fabric in, or you cut something else up which then can't be reused. A "cheap" red dog collar (£5?).

Time-wise it's colouring spots on a t shirt, finding and buying a dog collar in the right shade, sewing white ears, attaching them to a headband, covering an Alice band with a tea towel and making a tail. This isn't a 2 minute job in total. It's a load of faff and ends up with a ruined t shirt and felt tips and an unnecessary dog collar.

I am torn between thinking that kids love to dress up so it's the fun, but the waste (x 2 or 3 if you have more than one kid) of ruined t shirts and unnecessary props.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 19/02/2022 10:43

It isn't world book Day that is a problem, it is the activities schools plan for world book Day that are the problem.

TheBigPeach · 19/02/2022 11:10

A girl in my daughters class came dressed up as Kylie Jenner and Stormy a couple of years ago 🙄 and 8/10 of the boys are wearing football kits.

sorryforswearing · 19/02/2022 11:21

I don’t think it’s a waste of time but as a teacher I always found dressing up a PITA. Don’t remember a kid I taught who didn’t like it though. Mind you I taught very young children. My own DC hated it when he got to year 5/6.

Benjispruce5 · 19/02/2022 11:23

@Hellosunshiner I totally agree and if you see my post upthread, I work in primary and think it’s a lot of extra faff for parents and it’s not necessary to enjoy and celebrate WBD. At the time I was only part time and could faff about with that stuff. DD kept the outfit for dress up at home and her younger sissy had use of it too. I’ve still got it! But yes at the time I remember the dread feeling when you got that school letter. Last time, my school just asked chn to bring in their favourite story/book and we had sharing time. Far better imo.

Benjispruce5 · 19/02/2022 11:24

Sissy???? Sister obvs.

Benjispruce5 · 19/02/2022 11:30

Oh and I’ve always had a sewing’s machine( was DM’s) sewing basket and a bag of old bits of fabric, button jar, ribbon jar etc. A sewing kit is a household essential. The jar of buttons and ribbons is not fancy. I keep ribbon from gifts and cut off anything nice before throwing or recycling a gift box for example. My mum always sewed so I guess it’s normal to me.

Hellosunshiner · 19/02/2022 11:31

[quote Benjispruce5]@Hellosunshiner I totally agree and if you see my post upthread, I work in primary and think it’s a lot of extra faff for parents and it’s not necessary to enjoy and celebrate WBD. At the time I was only part time and could faff about with that stuff. DD kept the outfit for dress up at home and her younger sissy had use of it too. I’ve still got it! But yes at the time I remember the dread feeling when you got that school letter. Last time, my school just asked chn to bring in their favourite story/book and we had sharing time. Far better imo.[/quote]
Ah sorry I didn't see that.

Do you know what though... thinking about it a bit more - although at the time it's all a faff and an expense etc, when you look back on things from when the DCs were younger you somehow forget the fatf and expense and remember how cute they looked, or even as a parent the efforts you went to, to make it nice for them.

Reading your post back I think it's lovely about the costume. I bet your DD looked super cute in her dalmation costume which you lovingly made for her and you have the fond memory of it. I am a bit in the thick of things at the moment with small children but it's a timely reminder that these days don't last but the memories do. x

Benjispruce5 · 19/02/2022 11:36

You’re spot (Dalmatian) on there @Hellosunshiner and I totally get where you are. It’s like spending on something expensive , you forget after a while and enjoy the memories. As for the time, I would sit and watch tv sewing(bodging) it when the kids were in bed. The stress was thinking of an idea, once I started I actually enjoyed the creativity.

sparkycats · 19/02/2022 11:37

Yes, I agree. It's a massive pain. It's costly because often you end up having to pay for an outfit. I don't have dressing up stuff around that they can just wear- my dcs were never into dressing up. Usually I try and get something together from their existing wardrobe or buy second hand but finding the right outfit second hand is not easy.

My Ds is 9 and is now very fussy about wearing something cool. He won't wear any of the previous outfits I have kept. Our WBD is themed about particular genres and it's proving hard to find something he will wear.

Plus I hate the environmental aspect of buying something to wear for one day. Not everyone has loads of time/effort/skills to make something or has loads of random dressing up stuff they can put together.

I absolutely hate WBD.

sparkycats · 19/02/2022 11:41

@Benjispruce5

DD now 21. I remember making a 101 Dalmatians costume . It was a white T-shirt and leggings and I drew black spots on with a felt tip. I bought a cheap red dog collar and sewed some white ‘ears’ and covered her Alice band with an old white tea towel and gave them the black spot treatment too. Oh and a tail!
That's ok when they are young. My dcs have accepted a costume like that. My kind of costume. But when they are older and refuse to wear something like that.
sparkycats · 19/02/2022 11:43

@HaveringWavering

It's not "just an hour" if you're doing something home made you'd normally need to buy some materials, even if cheap (which would involve going out or searching online) and then creating the costume.

Disagree. You can make costumes from what’s in your wardrobe or from food packaging etc. Unless you literally don’t own felt tips, scissors or sellotape, it’s not a foregone conclusion that you need to buy something. Have you not heard the expression “cut your coat according to your cloth”?

Great. Can I have some ideas for an older boy on the theme myths, legends and fairy tales please. All ideas so far have been a flat no. I have googled to no avail. My dc would rather just go in school uniform.
Fizbosshoes · 19/02/2022 11:44

I would say with the exception of outfits that can be readily assembled from every day clothes (charlie bucket, famous five, boy in the dress etc) most "costumes" will cost money, effort or time.

When my DC started school I couldnt afford to buy from amazon etc so used to get pieces from charity shops to fashion into a costume. I had a few craft materials (and face paints) but no sewing machine so anything that required (basic) sewing was time consuming.
I did put quite a lot of effort into the first few costumes and thus had a couple of things that could be reused. But time and enthusiasm became more scarce as the years passed and I went back to work, and the dress up days became more frequent. Some of the more quickly assembled home made costumes barely lasted the day let alone lent themselves to being reused!Blush

GettingStuffed · 19/02/2022 11:46

Dressed as a word is great, messy, lazy, indolent, crazy etc. That doesn't need a bought costume even a kid who doesn't want to dress up can go as normal 😄

Queenbee77 · 19/02/2022 12:11

It costs because our school asks children to pick a book and then tells them to get their parents to pay! Its ludicrous and I get around it by saying to my children; I have ordered it directly so I dont need to send in the money and I quite often find it cheap on ebay. Our school even have authors visit and sign books and they cost more! Charity shops are full if second hand books. We just love collecting certain books and we go 'hunting' for them in charity shops. Much more exciting.

LuckyAmy1986 · 19/02/2022 12:11

When I say throw it away, I mean get rid of it, charity shop or whatever

Well you actually said you would bin it

ButtercupOfFlorin · 19/02/2022 12:13

@Fizbosshoes

There are loads of ideas online which cost next to nothing, so what if you have to spend an hour or so putting a costume together, it won't kill you once a year. Pathetic is what it is

It's not "just an hour" if you're doing something home made you'd normally need to buy some materials, even if cheap (which would involve going out or searching online) and then creating the costume. Then multiply by however many children you have, then multiply by however many dressing up days per year your school puts on. (Admittedly some might be easier than others)

I normally made costumes where the cost was time rather than money. One year I found a WW2 evacuee costume in a charity shop and bought it knowing next term was ww2 and there would be a dress up day.....then they didn't have the dress up day for ww2, they had it for a different topic. Another time I (unusually for me) bought a new "fire of London" costume from amazon and DS was ill that day and didn't get to use it!!Confused

I wonder if that poster thinks impoverished men are pathetic if they don’t spend their time sewing cloth sack together?
ldontWanna · 19/02/2022 12:34

@sparkycats any swords? Roman,greek ,viking vague lookalike options? Thor or Loki? Hunter or wolf? Troll?

sparkycats · 19/02/2022 12:42

[quote ldontWanna]@sparkycats any swords? Roman,greek ,viking vague lookalike options? Thor or Loki? Hunter or wolf? Troll? [/quote]
Thanks. My ideas too. At the moment no, but I going to have to insist as not paying £20 for an outfit .

ldontWanna · 19/02/2022 12:49

@sparkycats what does he want or like in general?

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