Like many schools my kid’s school gets into the world book day every year. It usually involves a letter home a few weeks before saying the kids can come to school dressed as their favourite story book characters. There is another way of telling when the dawning of world book day is near as you suddenly start to notice an abundance of ‘dressing up’ outfits in the supermarkets and shops. Not just you average fairy/pirate and fireman characters that serve our pre-schoolers so well. But more elaborate …little red riding hood (with sown in wolf), dorothy with red shoes and a small handbag sized toto and an army of Pixar and Disney characters.
It is perhaps obvious that the retailers are not going to be slow to cash in on the nation’s primary school parents being given a dressing up challenge such as this every year. There are many parents who have the incredible and enviable skills of being able of make and create an outift. But there are also those (including me) who dont have the time or the aptitude to produce such creations, particularly x 3.
We have another, more personal issue when it comes to world book day. Every year my oldest, who is now 10, has a real problem with going to school dressed up as anything other than himself! I dont know what it is about him, he has always been like it, even as a toddler he would very rarely wear any kind of dressing up clothes. He, i think, finds the whole thing totally stressful and maybe its his very scientific, pragmatic mind that can’t cope with people pretending to be something they aren’t. I dont know.
This year, it was much worse. He stressed about it, got upset, refused our suggestions to ‘just go as himself and take his favourite book’ which i thought was perhaps a far better idea of actually celebrating reading and books than spending £15 and lining the already deep pockets of Disney. But he said he would be laughed at and that his teacher told him he HAD to get dressed up! After going round and round the subject for hours and hours the night before and him begging us not to send him to school. I decided that we wouldn’t. Which i realise might not be a decision that a lot of people would agree with but my son was distressed, he felt backed into a corner and was willing us to rescue him so I did just that.
I dont know if its the right lesson to teach him. Im not sure. It tough being a kid and this issue is so very personal to him that it felt wrong to force him to dress up for what is essentially a non-curriculum, fun day for the kids which was clearly going to cause my boy a LOT of stress. He is in fact an avid reader…has a reading age far above his own but…dressing up…its like his kryptonite. Im guessing we are not looking at a career on the stage for him 😉
Was it the right thing to do?
i dont know.
what do you think?
This week I have a fabulous book to giveaway. It is the delicious CAKE DAYS book by the famous Hummingbird Bakery. All you have to do is follow the rafflecopter.
Last weeks winner was C Parkin. Please get in touch to claim your prize!
