Husband to not attend nursery graduation?

[AleenaM]

Nursery graduation at the end of the month and summer party right after, but husband says he has a sports/hobby competition that day. Don't know if he's joking but even the suggestion annoys me.

AIBU to expect him to attend party? Child won't graduate again but I'm sure they'll be competitions again. He is just getting back into this sport and it's a regional competition, it's not like a once in a lifetime olympics or something ...

I’m amazed at the amount of people/parents that have never heard of nursery graduations. I’ve worked in 3 early years centres , since I qualified in 2020 and all have done a graduation. All my friends nurseries do it too.

it’s not a new thing.

I think nursery graduation is ridiculous but.......my exH always put his hobbies above his family every single time and we are now divorced.
I put up withis for 20 years then one day just snapped.
I'd be asking him what's important to him but if he does attend I expect he'll have a face like a slapped arse.

well it is for us older folks- my grandchildren never had them either.

That's because you are young.
Anything that has happened in the past 20 years is fairly recent to me and only the blink of an eye in the history of education throughout most of which children did not graduate from nursery, primary school or secondary school in the UK. As others have said its part of a schmaltzy, sentimental Americanisation

I think nursery graduations are really silly. But he should attend for your child's sake.

I've heard of them. I still think they're ridiculous. Fortunately mine had just a little picnic and nothing silly

I too think the concept of Nursery graduation is totally ridiculous

Since 2020 is a new thing.

Since 2010 is a new thing.

In fairness, if it were common before that I’d accept that times have changed and I’m old but it is definitely a new thing (with the odd anomaly)

That's less than 4 years of data you have there. My friends 7 year old had one. My 17 year old nephew did not. It wasn't the norm then.

4 years is recent.

Building up this non event into a thing means someone somewhere will be making money. Your DH is quite right to give it a swerve. Your DC won’t know or care about the concept of “graduation”.

My DD didn’t have this and she left in 2017. They had an ice cream party

This would be a reason for me to push for him to go. Men not attending these things winds me up

My child had a nursery graduation, yes it was cute however it was also completely unnecessary. If I had a prior engagement I wouldn’t have minded missing it. Also my husband didn’t come, he stayed home to do the DIY!

I do actually think he should go to that instead of his sport now that you’ve explained how often the sport has these tournaments.
but ‘he’s never going to graduate again’ is too much 🤣 he’s 4! He’s got a lifetime ahead, and you won’t both always make every event. As long as someone goes, that’s fine!

My 19yo and 14yo both had them

Another OP absolutely convinced by their own reasonableness despite all evidence to the contrary. Must be a delight to be married to people like that.

Nursery "graduations" are not a new thing but they are a silly thing.

I didn't have one but then I went to nursery at the dawn of time.

Nursery rightly understood we were all at nursery because our parents needed childcare so did a minimum of parent daytime events because nobody would have attended.

My parents would honestly have viewed nursery graduation as a waste of their money as if they could be there, I could have been at home.

It utterly does my head in, but yes graduation from nursery is a thing. We had dd's last summer. This summer there is a graduation from Reception.

It's a load of shite.

Surely op, as long as one of you is there it hardly matters if the other isn't?

How much do all those little caps and gowns cost, I wonder? I thought many nurseries have to watch the pennies!

I’m firmly in the ‘daft’ camp. My Gdd2 will be leaving her lovely nursery this summer - both her siblings also went there and I never heard of any ‘graduation’ do.

Absolutely ridiculous. For God’s sake.

My 21 yo simply finished nursery at the end of term. He had a leavers assembly at the end of Y6. There was a prom at the end of secondary but he didn’t want to go.
My 26 yo had the same but she did opt to go to her Y11 an Y13 proms (note prom not graduation). She had a lovely graduation ceremony for her BA which we all attended. Her MA graduation was online due to the pandemic.

I’m not going to DD’s graduation, neither is DH. It’s absolute shite that is not worth a day off work.

Regardless of how much detail you post, it seems to be only you who thinks it’s a problem that your partner isn’t going to be there!
In years to come I doubt any child will even remember going to nursery let alone a leaving party 🤣🤣🤣

My daughter is 16.. we had a graduation for her leaving playschool when she was 4.. definitely not a new thing