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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

My son wants to be a dinosaur in the nativity play...

24 replies

EmLJ · 01/12/2009 17:33

...and its really annoying me! And if that wasn't bad enough, he has actually been offered the part of Joseph - though this may have been a unsuccessful ruse of the teachers to get him to warm to the idea of being something other than a dinosaur! I have today and tomorrow morning to persuade him to be Joseph otherwise the part will go to someone else and he'll end up being a sheep or something. I have also lost my voice to some nasty bug so I need to do this without talking too much. Help appreciated! Would bribery be the best way forward? I swore only recently I would not resort to bribery any more (due to this practice we now have over 200 stupid little plastic and rubber dinosaurs in the house.)

Or am I being an unreasonable pushy mum - should I be pleased my son is asserting his independance even if he ends up looking like a nutter? He's 4.

OP posts:

MadameCastafiore · 01/12/2009 17:35

Just tell him he is going to be Joseph no arguing and that is that - tell him he cannot be a dinosaur as they had all died out by then, he is 4 he should understand that.

strongblackcoffee · 01/12/2009 17:35

well... my son is being batman in his nativity play, his choice

If he's forced into being Joseph and doesn't really want to do it you're far more likely to have him refuse to do it on the day. I'd let him be a dinosaur and enjoy it!

Sagacious · 01/12/2009 17:35

DS wanted to be a snake when he was 4

He was meant to be a Shepherd

I tried every bribe/excuse/tantrum/reverse psychology trick in the book..

Refused to wear his costume and sat with me in the audience

He's nearly 8 now and cannot see the point in "putting on a stooopid show"

Some children are just like that.

Kaloki · 01/12/2009 17:38

Tell him that he is playing a dinosaur, but that it's a dinosaur in disguise as Joseph

JamesAndTheGiantBanana · 01/12/2009 17:45

Could he wear a dinosaur costume under his Joseph costume? And make his lines a bit growly?

"MaaAAArghy! I see an Inn!"

EvilTwins · 01/12/2009 17:47

He's 4. He wants to be a dinosaur. Let him be a sodding dinosaur and stop being so precious about him having the starring role.

YABU.

Original poster

EmLJ · 01/12/2009 17:48

lol! all conjuring up nightmares of where all this could lead...

I'm giving him his favourite tea now and I think reasoning it out with the historical facts might be a good way forward with him - its just hard when you don't feel like talking. He will see right through the Joseph dinosaur disguise...

OP posts:

Morloth · 01/12/2009 17:48

Can he be the donkey? Then can be like the dragon/donkey blend in Shrek with roars instead of ee-ors?

I only ask because donkey has been the much coveted role amongst DS and friends .

tethersend · 01/12/2009 17:50

Has he been reading Darwin?

Maybe he is an evolutionist and this is his sophisticated satire on the fallibility of creationist theory?

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 01/12/2009 17:53

DS (also 4) has been offered no part at all. Because he may be disruptive (he has ASD)

Needless to say you are being pushy - and oh, my DS is starting at a new school in january!

Original poster

EmLJ · 01/12/2009 18:11

Not Darwin, Kenneth Brannagh on Walking with Dinosaurs. And no philosphy here, he's just being controversial like his father...

Clearly whatever I do is going to be pushy in one direction or another - what if the school won't let him be a dinosaur? (I don't think they are keen in case it leads to all-out nativity rebellion)

Unless I do absolutely nothing, then whatever happens its not my fault? Now I'm being just like his father...

Hey EvilTwins, who do you think is going to steal the show at a nativity - Joseph or a dinosaur!?

OP posts:

IMoveTheStarsForNoOne · 01/12/2009 18:13

haha, brilliant, that did make me smile

dinosaurs and religion don't mix very well, do they

SpringyDingDongMerrilyOnHigh · 01/12/2009 18:16

tethersend

cakeywakey · 01/12/2009 18:25

Will they not let him be a dinosaur? He could be a brownish one that could double as a donkey if you squinted?

diddl · 01/12/2009 18:43

So the school don´t want a dinosaur?

Original poster

EmLJ · 01/12/2009 21:19

Well, we may not have to worry about what the school will allow - one plate of sausage, egg and chips later and he has agreed to be Joseph, when I reminded him "he's the daddy" he thought that was quite cool. But he also said it in that kind of humouring way that tweenagers suddenly freak you out with : "ok mum, I'll be Joseph". Then I felt really guilty and said that I would be proud of him whatever he is as long as he does his best and then we had a big hug and hopefully that's the last of it being a problem. I will post if anything amusing or horrific transpires.

Can I just say, this is the first time I've posted anything and I'm so pleased I lost my voice today - if I hadn't I'd be chatting on the phone to my mum instead who'd be telling not to be so ridiculous. But this way I get to have loads of strangers telling me I'm ridiculous which is much more fun, and get to hear lots of stories and words of wisdom too! Thanks everyone

OP posts:

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 01/12/2009 21:22

Brilliant

JamesAndTheGiantBanana · 01/12/2009 23:07

Congrats on your first post then. I'm sure it'll be fine!

DandyLioness · 01/12/2009 23:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Vallhala · 01/12/2009 23:24

Glad you have it sorted or I'd have had to suggest that you told DS he can't be a dinosaur this year as Mrs Oldest-least-favourite-teacher is one already!

Its nice to hear that nativity plays are still happening. The school attended by my friends 6 yo isn't having one this year... yet they are a C/E school, which strikes both my friend and I as very strange and disappointing. There's nothing nicer than going to a nativity to see Mary sucking her thumb, the innkeeper telling Joseph to come right on in and someone singing baa baa black sheep amidst the sheep and donkeys onstage, whilst reaching for your hanky and trying not to look like an over-emotional parent. Yep, I've seen all of this, and had to hide the tears!

MadamDeathstare · 02/12/2009 02:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

EmLJ · 02/12/2009 22:29

now that is brilliant!

OP posts:

stealthsquiggle · 02/12/2009 22:47

DD refused point blank to participate in nursery's loose interpretation of nativity last year - she sat firmly on my lap having removed the teatowel (she was supposed to be a shepherd) before I even got it on. Thankfully I had not gone to a lot of effort as she already had a Jedi robe (don't ask) which would have made a perfect shepherds robe, had she put the damned thing on. I suspect this year I may be trying to explain that there really are no pink glittery princesses in the nativity.

DS's concert had me PMSL this afternoon - the nursery class did a brief 'pagent' before the main event - Mary was played by a difficult child and she scowled the whole way through - I felt for Joseph and was pondering whether he had forgotten to buy her a 'push present' or whether she was sinking into PND - probably the latter since she forgot the baby when they left the stage and Joseph went back for it

MadamDeathstare · 03/12/2009 00:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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