Pages

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The pressure of the class mascot


I think they all have them. Schools, Kinders, Creche. Each one has sent me into a flap. A toy that comes home for the week and spends the week with the child. The child then fills in a scrap book about their adventure for the week and presents it to the class.

First up we had a dinosaur and he went everywhere for the week, we took photos, Popps drew pictures, it was fun. The book was filled with some pretty amazing artwork, seems some kids have graphic designers for parents, or go flying on weekends to exotic destinations.

Last night we had Farmer Ted. He arrived home as part of the ongoing theme of 'farming' in the prep year. Popps had swimming to go to and became distressed, "Mrs G asked if I had anything on tonight, I said no, but I forgot, oh no, we have swimming, I will be in trouble" Ahhhh disaster in her mind.

Mrs G is not really like that, but anyway.


I let her know it would all be ok. We could work it out.

Then I realised the printer at home was out of ink and the photos she wanted were not going to be printed out.

So as she got ready for swimming I snapped some shots of Farmer Ted. As the girls hit the pool I emailed those from my phone to Mr H, he was able to print them at work for us. Then he somehow managed to get locked in at work, which is what happens when you are working late. Poor Mr H has started riding his bike to work, after being locked in, it got dark, the rain came down and it was awhile before the photos arrived home. Popps was getting tired.






Finally she began her Farmer Ted homework and an hour and a half later it was done. She filled three pages of the scrap book and finally got to bed, she was so tired but really wanted to do a portrait of Farmer Ted, exactly as he looks. Thankfully, hers is the first entry in the book so we had no pressure to do or compare to what some other parents may get up to.

The difference with this one was that we only had one night, not the week to get the task done. It was a bit of a hassle and made for a late night, which Popps was ok with, but I was missing evening TV viewing and twitter.

Scary Bunny, Tired Child.
But maybe it makes no difference. All this reminded me that earlier in the year Immy had the Bunny from creche for the week and we took hundreds of photos of her and Bunny over the week. Then forgot to fill in the book, I mentioned I would print the pages out and stick them in...must add that to my list.

How do you cope with the class mascot visiting your place?

14 comments:

  1. I took it shopping to Franklins. It was due back the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We had only a day for ours too. We also ran out of ink in the printer and meltdowns ensured. We ended up hand drawing in a picture of the bear. Was never so happy to see the back of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, do I have this coming and I didn't know!?!!? So far no mascots home from school or preschool, the visit here won't be too exciting, feeding the pigs might be the highlight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Farmer Ted would have been right at home with you.

      Delete
  4. Doo Dah had the duties last year. I did a post about it too because there was such pressure! Poor thing didn't do anything fun at our place at all x

    ReplyDelete
  5. We just got a note home today about this too! Seems to be a worldwide phenomenon. As the only Australian family at the school here in Belgium, at least we will be able to appear "exotic" simply by feeding the mascot vegemite on toast and teaching him some English ;)
    Love the swimming photo!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my gosh, I'm so with you on this one. I hate the damn mascot! I even mis-read the word 'scrap' book as 'crap' book unintentionally, but probably not that unintentional on a subconscious level.

    When my son did his, I just set up a few 'exciting' scenarios like going to bed, playing piano and going to the supermarket and got the photos printed at the kodak shop.

    Why does this task feel like mum's homework and nothing to do with the child?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's the photos! The rule should be no photos allowed in the book, only drawings, Even at creche when you draw in scribbles.

      Delete
  7. We brought home our first Mascot recently, it was a black bunny with a name I've totally forgotten already. My girls had to share the responsibility, which was a pain as they fought over him the whole week. We were only the third family to have him, so the pressure wasn't too great in terms of the book but I practically hated the whole time! So much stress. What if we lose it? Or ruin the book? Oh, God, our textas ran onto the other boy's page!?!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh yes, the pressure of NOT being the first entry - that is big. I think it is a great idea the whole mascot thing but also can cause a bit of stress for the little ones and the big ones too. Well done to getting it done!

    ReplyDelete
  9. We get ours over the weekend usually, it comes home Friday and needs to go back Monday with the book filled in. Thankfully now Annie is in Grade 3 the class mascot is a live animal that stays at school and has no book to fill in. :: phew ::

    ReplyDelete
  10. We have been informed just this week that we can look forward to a visit from Immy's kindy class mascot this term. We will have him for the weekend and I am sure, given that we have a new baby in the house, that his weekend will be more than mundane! Though apparently Immy has volunteered me to sew him some new pyjamas! Yay :o

    ReplyDelete
  11. Our dog mistook poor little whale for breakfast so the Kindy found itself with a new mascot suddenly...Nemo . We figured it was an animal that lived in the water,it would be ok. Sadly kids were traumatized and we were suddenly at the centre of a scandal. Actually I exaggerate, but the kids were quite upset at the demise of Whaloo. Xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh flash back, first time we had this was a wombat named Gypsy. Within 2 minutes she was in our custody, she was thrown up in the air & landed on the neighbours garage roof. We sat in the driveway for 2 hours waiting for a man with a ladder to come home, to any house, to help us. Of course it was Army accommodation, no men around, so i parked our 4WD in position & sent a 4 year old onto the car roof to retrieve her, very pleased with myself, not so excited when this was all written down in the book & clearly an OH&S breach by the mother, me!! Anyway, flicking through the book, to get an idea, as this was my first born child . . . Gypsy had spent last weekend with the Chans, who took her on a Ferry to Taronga Zoo, yum cha in China Town & a trip to the grandparents wedding anniversary. Oh my, my husband was in a war zone, we had nothing planned for our weekend, so instead, i made Gyspy some clothes & a sleeping bag which was stitched to the back of the book, plus a new library bag which she lived in, only to find out i had completely insulted the martyr of the preschool who had been there forever, made the original library bag & was furious. I opted not to have the Gypsy Wombat when my twins went to the same preschool, just easier that way, plus i didn't want to see if her clothes & new bag had been removed??!! I told you it was a flash back, not a happy one, love Posie

    ReplyDelete

Commenting brings amazing luck, you must try it and see how you go!