Class dog... Again.... Arghhh....

[Happypiglet]

Just need to rant really...
Why is having a class cuddly toy complete with diary considered a 'good thing'....? My YR DD has just brought the cuddly dog home for the third time. It is disgusting, moth-eaten, filthy, matted and sponge clean only. We only take ownership for one night which is not enough for me to risk washing it and getting it dry.
we have an ongoing battle with worms. I have spent the last two weeks wet dusting daily, showering bottoms every morning and night, hand washing to within an inch of my life and downing Ovex... It is always DD that brings it home... And now I have the dog....
And then there is the whole diary competitive parenting thing...and who can take the most photos or provide a new toy... Currently other DC are ill at home...I DO NOT NEED THIS TONIGHT!!!!
And breathe.....

Well, I'm a complete party pooper because on discovering that there was a class bear when Dd started reception, I told the teacher that I did not want it sent home with Dd! teacher tried to persuade me otherwise, but I wasn't having it and if I'd got it, it would've spent the night in a sealed plastic bag in the boot of the car! my reasons? bed bugs. They are spreading in this country far too quickly for my liking and there is a massive ethnic population in Dd's school and they are always off home for the holidays...who knows what's riding back to the UK in their suitcases? so no, we don't have the class bear here.

And what was really surprising? Dd has never asked about it or begged to have it!

Put the dog in a bag in the freezer to kill any potential pests. Then fill in the diary about his trip to the North Pole.

I have always washed, spun & tumbled sponge-clean-only toys (a soak in disinfectant first helps too)

If school complain, tell them he fell in the bath.

In fact that could be your diary entry - dramatic fall into deep water & heroic rescue by your DD

Send a small casket of ash to school with a note saying that Professor Pillinger's third space mission Beagle3 failed, and this is the sad result.

Have already semi persuaded DD to watch dog on a quick cycle in the washer...I do not have a tumbler but it is so hot it may dry outside?.... Hadn't thought of bed bugs....gulp....just worm eggs....
Any teachers out there? Is it supposed to add something??. Most of the diarys are written by mums anyway....

Loving the ideas BTW.... DD currently in a teary mess watching dog doing a super quick wash in machine.....

I'm not keen on the idea of cuddly toys passed round either and I'm not one for bothering too much about hygiene I can tell you! Ds2 has got molloscum contagiosum- the incubation period would have coincided with him having the class bear. He might not have got it from that but honestly, I don't know what the teachers are thinking of passing these things round the class. I understand the reason to do it but I they should give you it for a couple of days so you can wash it first!

You must add squeals of laughter as dog is enjoying the washing machine experience and I'm decidedly envious as my washing machine died last week.

I keep meaning to write to the local council/ed authority whatever to express my concerns for the potential spreader of nasties.

when he comes out of the washer wrap him in a towel a few times & give him a good squeeze

then def try him outside on the line - it is warm & blowy here (after the torrential downpour we had an hour ago!)

good luck. it was worth doing!

Have you taken a picture of the dog in the washing machine? You could use it as a 'public service announcement' of what happens if you climb into a washing machine, or what happens if you refuse to wash properly etc

I feel I can let him in DDs bed now...assuming I can get him dry....he is currently pinned by his ears to the line....that might make an interesting photo for the diary!!

Maybe, but the thought of a scabby bear sitting on my Dd's bedside or on the bed makes me want to hurl. And she's in with me atm, so even worse. No, I think I'll be sticking to my guns on this one.

Maples I think it is the whole taking it to bed, sucking thumb at same time issue I feel yuck about. Plus possibly introducing stuff (namely worm eggs) back in to my sanitised within an inch of it's life house.

Just amuse yourself by writing a hilarious, scurrilous dog diary (think a canine Tom Waits).

Solo, 'a massive ethnic population in Dd's school and they are always off home for the holidays...who knows what's riding back to the UK in their suitcases?'

That's an unpleasant and prejudiced thing to say. What's an 'ethnic population' when it's at home? Last time I checked, everyone was of one ethnicity or another.

Well, take it as prejudiced if you want, it isn't. Ok, I could have said there are mostly foreign people at Dd's school...not sure which is better, but it doesn't detract from the fact.

I hate cuddly toys in school. The whole point of having equipment is that it should be something they don't have at home.

I swear our cupboard breeds them! The more I chuck out the more the horrible, moth eaten things turn up.

And :/ at the ethnic comment.

Are they foreign if they live in the UK?

Also, equating 'foreign' people with bedbugs exclusively is a bit off.

Well, they may well be British citizens now, but they are still from other far flung places (as was my own father, though he wasn't a returner to his country) and they are frequent visitors back to their home (original) countries.

Don't turn what I said into something it isn't please. It is a fact that bed bugs travel around in suitcases from country to country.

And I certainly wasn't equating foreign people with bed bugs exclusively don't think that comes across at all and it definitely wasn't meant that way.

Solo is making a factual comment. Children whose parents/grandparents originate from foreign countries are travelling back from visits and sometimes creatures hitch a ride. Factual, not racist or anything that anyone is implying. She could easily have said there are a lot of Americans/Austrians are taking holidays back in their countries and hitch hikers are coming back with them