to be pissed off that school expect me to have endless time on my hands to drum up things I don't have BY TOMORROW

[LupusinaLlamasuit]

Yeah, because when DS comes home from his post-school regular playdate (BECAUSE I WORK FULLTIME) at 8.30 with a note (dated today - it wasn't even, as usual, that he had forgotten it earlier in the week) insisting that we supply the following for tomorrow:

green and red peppers (fortunately have some in the fridge, past their best by date but not rotten so they will have to do )

plastic mixing bowl (nope: only glass ones in this house)

sieve (nope: just thrown a bashed up and bent one out)

clean tea towel (in this house? Are you kidding?)

...well, all I want to do after getting up at 6am following a 3am screaming session by youngest son followed by me breaking the cot painfully with my shoulder and having to have the wriggler in bed with us the rest of the night, getting all 3 kids ready for school which typically involves much screaming and blood pressure issues, getting them to their respective places by 9, putting in a FULL day at work, cooking dinner, bathing littluns, putting to bed, sitting on my laptop finishing off some work and cracking a glass of wine finally before it all starts again, after I've fallen asleep... Yes, all I want to do is rush to the 24 hr Tesco to keep up. 'Please contact us if you have any difficulties with this'. What, using my timemachine, so I can ring you 5 hours before I got the note when you might actually have been there?

What the fuck do they think we do with our time? Rant over. I will not let him down; but am pissed off with this casual and archaic attitude.

See now this is where you lot are at a disadvantage ..... if you lived near me,a nursery nurse you could just pop into my house and say 'oh nickschick dont suppose you have a fairy tiara do you?' or 'have you got any 3 foot roman shields hanging around?' as if!!!! then I think of some child not having their stuff and sit up late in the night dismantling things to make it!!.

The last time this happened was St Patricks day - did I have 24 card shamrocks hanging around?

I sometimes think its teachers having a laugh and seeing which parents will accomodate these requests.

I'm always getting requests for large boxes of matches. I don't what happens to them - they have never been returned home in any arty-crafty shape or form.

We have to buy loads of stuff at the beginning of the year - pens, pencils, exercise books etc. Half of them have just been returned unopened . Why can't the school just get its act together once and for all?

Happened to us yesterday.

Please bring in sweet corn (none of use like it but special trip to Sommerfield), tomato puree (OK got that), clean tea towel (luckily yes) and a chef's apron.

CHEF'S APRON?!!

Why did we but an art smock as part of their school uniform? Why can we not use that? Where do we get an apron small enough for a 9 year old that he will not trip over? Will he ever use it again?

Took me two hours yesterday to find a catering supply shop that had child aprons.

This sort of thing happens every week!

It was find a beret and bowler hat last Friday plus please can you make a bow tie out of this ragged strip of fabric by Monday. Another four hours of effort finding, making, fitting all that.

GAAArrrggghhhh!

I still think some schools have a quaint little 1950s vision of homes staffed by housewives wearing pinnies.

I am not looking forward to DS starting school!
15cm x 15cm cotton rice filled square...wft??

... and who actually are desperate for other people to provide them with menial tasks to pass the time!

On Tuesday afternoon DD came home with a note asking (a) for permission for her to go to an old people's home to do a repeat performance of her school end of year show today (Thursday) - there is no school on Wednesday, so this is in effect asking for permission from one day to the next (b) asking mothers whether they can come along as helpers.

I plan my week's activities in advance - I don't just sit around on the off chance someone invites me to do something. Grrrrrrrr. At the beginning of the year, I did rearrange my diary a few times at short notice for the benefit of the school or parents' association, but have learnt that it wasn't worth it. Ask me a week ahead (at least) or don't try.

You are not being at all unreasonable. I would complain to the school and ask them to give more notice in future.

(Am a bit shocked that you don't have a clean tea towel in the house, though)

Riven - I didn't provide the square and will berate myself for it in ten years time, I am sure

just send in a note Lupus.. our old school used to drive me mad with last minute requests.
In fact last week my friend told me that she got a phone call from the yr 4 class teacher at 6pm on a Friday night to say that she'd forgotten to send out letters about the yr 5school trip and could friend come to the playground on Monday morning with a permission letter and £150!!!!!!!!
Cue friend frantically worried as she couldn't get £150 together over one weekend!
our new school is fantastic at this, we never have last minute requests. you can have letters or emails and...get this... from September we'll be getting text alerts Fantastic!

Yes, I still talk about the time I had to go to school rice filled squareless. I blame my father - my mum wanted to go out and buy a sewing machine. It has ruined our relationship entirely.

'I don't just sit around on the off chance someone invites me to do something'

Tell me about it. I am actually working from home most of the time but still get the 'can you come in tomorrow?' requests. No, because if I don't work I don't get paid.

But then I feel guilty because it means more work for those good souls who do always answer The Call.

The only large plastic bowl I have is the sick bowl. And dd would merrily carry it into school (or nursery, in her case) shouting 'I've brought the sick bowl, everyone!'.

[slightly that I have a dedicated sick bowl ? or does everyone have one?]

We had a large plastic mixing bowl that is now a dedicated sick bowl (despite having been washed and then in the dishwasher 3 times it just didn't seem right to start mixing in it again!)

Riven - I will make your DD a rice beany bag if she ever needs one- i will sew on sequins and other stuff so she has the bestest one .

how do you know how much rice to stuff in?? surely this is random? some mothers may have an abundance of rice and use loads or perhaps new yummy mummies might think they cook the rice???

and some rebels would use lentils - do you think the school would notice?

botbot - we have a sick bowl too

We were told two handfuls of rice. FFS - you can buy beanbags, surely? Or have a whole load made up as a batch lot if you want something very specific.

Rice filled square! Good god.

OP - I feel your pain. What on earth do they want a sieve for. Who in the name of god on this earth sieves flour for pizza making. And who decided that a classroom full of children sieving flour would be a good idea. 30 kids + sieves + flour + excitement = chaos.

Don't worry, it only gets worse when they are teenagers. The amount of times my 13 year old dd has looked me in the eye and promised that I didn't need to buy anything special for her food tech classes:

(In supermarket)
me - have you got food tech this week
dd - yes, but it's only theory
me - are you sure? Are you SURE
dd - (airily) oh yes mum, stop going on.

Couple of days later - oh yeah mum, I forgot that I did have a list of stuff to take, but we have got it all in the cupboards I think, but have we got a red onion and a stock cube.

A stock cube!

Loads of last minute dashes to the 24 hour tesco here, as well

Riven the miracles of a rice bag mustnt be underestimated - bet they start selling em at lourdes soon .

SPB do you think they will rate us according to the rice we use to fill them-ie,value rice=budget mum,pudding rice= nincompoop mummy,tesco finest rice= supermum,waitrose rice= uber momma???

dear jesus how will they grade the renegade lentil users?