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Original poster

Oh no, not more Christmas cards!

37 replies

PamiNativity · 17/12/2004 10:12

Thought it was bad enough getting Xmas cards from work colleagues, but yesterday 3 year old dd1 brought home a card from another child at nursery. Please don't tell me I've got to write 20 cards for her nursery class! Bah humbug.

OP posts:
Joolstide · 17/12/2004 10:21

sorry - you have to write another 20 cards out for the nursery class

come on! - its C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S!!!!!!!!!!!! [GRIN]

serenequeen · 17/12/2004 10:23

sorry yes you do... what a total pita.

alexsmum · 17/12/2004 10:27

yep we sat and wrote out 25 cards for all the kids inds's class as he was coming home with them everyday!
friend has just told me, it's traditional to buy teacher a christmas present too...wtf????

Joolstide · 17/12/2004 10:33

Think I'd draw the line at buying pressies for the teacher - an apple maybe - this present thing has got totally out of hand!

aloha · 17/12/2004 10:35

The best quote I ever saw from Nigella Lawson was when she admitted opening her Christmas cards over the bin, and chucking them after reading! Oooh,brutal!

alexsmum · 17/12/2004 10:37

i'm glad it's not just me who thought it was ott.the friend was saying she bought presents for the teacher and all the assistants.And when I took ds into school this morning, teacher was sitting opening a gift.
don't even really like this teacher much, but don't want him to be odd one out. Maybe get o box of chocs at weekend.

alexsmum · 17/12/2004 10:39

got to say i love getting christmas cards. nice to have something pop through the letterbox other than bills.and they look pretty stuck up round the room.
i hope nigella doesn't get anymore after saying that.

misdee · 17/12/2004 10:39

dd1 isnt sending xmas cards this year. she has hardly recieved any anyway. havent had time this week to sort them out. feeling abit guilty but not too much lol.

dd2 who is only 2, got 3 xmas cards on her one day at nursery this week.

TheHollyAndTheTwiglett · 17/12/2004 10:40

oh buggerbollocks

cos DS has been off sick I didn't know that (we did get one card before he went off)

.. how do I get a list of all the names?

and do I really ahve to buy pressies

if I don't will DS be scorned (will I be cut dead in the playground?)

wow I thought working was political that's nothing to this 3 year old 'mare

aloha · 17/12/2004 10:42

I was really hacked off by the Xmas card thing when ds was two and at nursery. He didn't know or care about Xmas cards. He didn't want any, he couldn't read them and had absolutely no idea about sending them. It's just another job for Muggins Mum! And the nursery teacher was really sniffy about my present (Penhaligons bloody candle!) Grrr.

Prettybird · 17/12/2004 10:43

Ds (4) has been coming home with loads of cards from his nursery. I am not going to go out and get cards in return. He can't write his name ffs! Until he asks to do them, I'm not doing them for him! And the janitor hates the way the parents come in with huge pile of cards and expect her to hand them out. So I'll keep on her good side

It does mean that we'll have a good Christmas card collection this year

alexsmum · 17/12/2004 10:43

the office at ds's school has been providing little printed lists of all the children in each class. very handy!
not buying pressies for any of the kids.
don't know what to do about teacher.

StuffTheMagicTurkey · 17/12/2004 10:50

I don't think you should feel forced to send cards to the children or send in presents for teachers. Not all children sent cards in my classes and no-one noticed, the pile of wasted trees was so large anyway!

As for teachers presents - it was nice to receive some (so I knew I wasn't a total witch hated by all my charges and their parents), but I was also grateful not to be overloaded with chocs and flowers as I only had 1 vase and 1 stomach .

The nicest present I ever received was a little drawing one of the children did of me - it was the size of two postage stamps and she used a foil sweet wrapper for the frame. I still have it .

Batters · 17/12/2004 11:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
PamiNativity · 17/12/2004 11:07

oh well, the Mumsnet jury has spoken - I'll be off to Oxfam this weekend to buy some more cards.
Definitely need to get a list too, as I don't know all the names of the children in the class.
Dd1 is learning to write her name at the moment so maybe I'll let her have a practice!

OP posts:
SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown · 17/12/2004 11:11

I have spent my evenings for the last week writing out dds xmas cards - haven't even started my own yet!!!!! dd1 (5) was all excited to write them out and after doing about 3 of them got bored and wandered off. Left me to do the sodding rest!

Joolstide · 17/12/2004 11:33

I do like getting cards myself but I think it really loses its meaning when you feel pressured into sending them.

Kids get peer pressure themselves and the parents feel the pressure of wanting their kids to be like everyone else and not getting singled out for not buying the teacher gifts or sending cards - its hard!
I don't think I'd buy a gift for a teacher I didn't like tho - plead insanity!

KangaSantaMummy · 17/12/2004 11:46

DS does cards for the whole class

He did them on computer

but one mum gave me a pressie for DS which is sweet of her but have not her DS one.

Although it is sweet of her I do feel that it is rather unfair because I am under pressure to get one and she sat next to me in church this morning {for school service} I can't get to the shops they break up in 2 hours. And we are going away tonight.

Original poster
PamiNativity · 17/12/2004 11:47

Oh please, no presents!!
Mind you, I have bought and wrapped 16 presents for the nursery staff, as well as a big communal tin of chocolates. I'm not all bad!

OP posts:
SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown · 17/12/2004 12:51

pami you must be mad! DD1 took in small gift for her teacber but he has been really good to her and us as a family. dd2 took a small box of choccies into playschool 'cause she wanted to be like her big sister

moondog · 17/12/2004 12:58

For God's sake!
DON'T send Christmas cards between tiny kids (and yes, they did that at my kid's nursery.) What a grotesque waste of money, paper and energy.

You shouldn't feel pressured into giving ANYONE presents or cards unless it comes from the heart. I don't and consequently my gifts are given with true feeling.
Don't do Christmas cards,in the same way that we don't go to/attend birthday parties unless we know and like the family involved. I'm not wasting a precious Saturday afternoon sitting in a draughty leisure centre with a group of women I don't know from Adam,putting up with the amplified screams of 15 kids going doolal in the bouncy castle, then watching my kids have crap shovelled down them.

(What an old misery eh?!)

SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown · 17/12/2004 14:45

you are so right moondog. I am guilty of ALL that!!

annh · 17/12/2004 16:25

This year's Christmas cards for school and pre-school came from the post office where I managed to buy 10 for 23p!! I let ds1 (6) choose who he wanted to send his cards to and I think he eventually wrote about 11, although has received many more. But as others said, I'm not going to force him to write cards just for the sake of it! Hadn't even considered ds2 (3 1/2) might be expected to send cards until one of his pres-school teachers handed me a list so I adopted a similar approach and let him choose

TheHollyAndTheTwiglett · 17/12/2004 16:30

I wish I was as brave as moondog

DS and I sat there this morning making 24 christmas cards .. I think I probably know about 8 of the children, some of the other names I've never even heard

But don't think I could bear being responsible for a 3 or 4 year old wondering why they didn't get a card from my son and other people did

Hulababy · 17/12/2004 16:33

2yo DD goes to nursery and has started coming home with cards too. I asked her nursery teacjers to give me a list of the names (not address - so okay in a safety type of way) of the children she plays with nost. Now DD only goes to a pretty small nursery twice a week, but I still got 12 names! And DD keeps telling me more children's names too - argh!