Becoming Domestic

[Update: I decided not to write a note to the teacher after all as really don't want to be a tricky customer]

I’m planning to write a quick note to the teacher/school on Monday as I need to nip a potential problem in the bud but I really don’t want to be known as the troublemaking parent just 5 days into the twins’ time at their new primary school.

I was in our office this morning writing some letters, sorting out financial forecasts and other bits and pieces when I took a phone call from the school’s office who had rang to tell me that my son had had a short sharp nose bleed. He was ok but would I please bring him a new jumper and polo shirt to wear. I was really taken aback and explained that I was at work. I queried how sodden the jumper was to warrant a parent going home tp personally courier in a fresh sweatshirt. The secretary said ‘Hold on a moment’ then came back to phone and said ‘Yes he is going to need a fresh change of clothes’. I imagined that he had managed to cover himself in blood and was soaked the the skin. Luckily I had planned to purchase a couple of extra school logo’d sweatshirts anyway and in my haste I asked her to sell me two and to put one on them (usually I am more inclined to buy 2nd hand school uniform for 50p per sweatshirt rather than £8 apiece) which I’m now regretting.

Errr both my husband and I had many many gushy nosebleeds as small children and neither of us recall having our parents involved in bringing in urgent fresh clothes.

Ten minutes later I took another call from the school secretary because my daughter had fallen on her head was allegedly groggy and needed to be taken home. Of course I went straight to the school to get her. As she she came out I was handed a plastic bag of her brother’s clothes. I got them out at home to soak in cold water and was curious to see that his ‘Blood stained jumper’ which had required me to leave work to swap actually had two smallish blobs of blood on the neckline and his polo shirt had a fifty pence piece sized splat on the collar.

I fail to see how a school can expect a parent to drop what they are doing in order to provide spotless clothes for a four year old child who has got a tiny bit grubby during the school day. Most perculiar. I have a definite need to get to the bottom of this rather strange policy. I mentioned the incident to one of the other mums (of four kids at the same school) while we were waiting for the school day to end in the playground she replied ‘Oh they’re terrible for doing that! They called me at work once to bring fresh trousers for my son just an hour before the end of the school day because the button had fallen off them’. She told them he could wear his PE trousers or they could fasten his trousers with a safety pin but she could not leave her shift at the shop an hour early for such a non-event.

(NB: The child who was sent home to me today because of a bumped head was full of beans all afternoon which was great for her but not so good for me. The strange thing is that when her brother suffered a bumped head earlier in the week and then proceeded to sleep all afternoon in the book corner I was only told at home time…. I am now officially a confused parent of small school children)

Posted on September 14th, 2007 under Bits and Bobs • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback