In Sonny Boy's over stuffed homework folder, jammed between drawings of his Grandpa "going crazy" and unfinished handwriting tracing papers, I found a holly jolly flyer featuring a beanie cap wearing penguin advertising the Holiday Shoppe (oh yeah, they went for the old timey spelling of shop). Attached to this joyful flyer is an envelope that has a gift list printed on it; mom, dad, sister, grandma, etc.. In this envelope we are to enclose money for our little one to use at the holiday shop to buy gifts for those on their list, with the assistance of a volunteer parent to keep them within their budget. While the flyer informs that the items in the shop will range in price from twenty five cents to twelve dollars (boasting its affordability) I still feel that how our family chooses to spend out holiday money should be up to us, without the influence of the school. Whenever the school promotes a shopping event (or a fundraiser that involves my five year old begging his grandma to buy a twelve dollar mug) I cannot help from feeling backed into a corner, and in this corner my Sonny Boy is the only kid in his class that doesn't get to go to the holiday shop (or get the stuffed animal key chain showing his fundraising prowess). I understand that these activities are the nature of the beast, the beast we call public school, and most likely I will shove a couple of bucks in the provided Ye Old Holiday Shoppe envelope for Sonny Boy to be able to participate. I only hope that Sonny Boy remembers that he was a part of the Holiday Shoppe, purchasing his father and I pencil erasers and mini kaleidoscopes this holiday, when he is a teenager. Hopefully the memory of how his mom and dad didn't want him to be the only kid that didn't tour the holiday shop will deter just a bit of the resentment he will harbor against us in the future (I know it's a long shot).
My son's school does the same. Although I don't really agree with it, I found volunteering at the same time my son's class shopped helped. I was able to subtly steer my son towards gifts that might be a little more useful than mini kaleidoscopes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the volunteer advice, I think I will volunteer and do all the parents a service and help their children make better gift choices (other then mood rings and candy).
DeleteOMG, I seriously I thought I was the only one who disliked this event at the kiddos school. It's almost as bad as the book fair stuff because I give the kiddos money and they never ever come home with a book. I have to say I am really enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely not the only one who is not fond of these types of school events, there are just not many of us who will actually say it. Thanks for checking out my blog!
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