Mum Shares a Stern Warning to Book Week

Book week in this house goes a little something like this….. F#@k you!

Opens dress up box… grabs pirate and skeleton costumes for the third time.

Children fight because they both want to be a pirate.

Then cry because they both find out I don’t trust them to take even a foam sword to school. (Because I’m not an idiot)

Proceeds to give children costumes; asks them to go find a book with said costume in it.

Now don’t get me wrong we’re passionate about reading.
Our house is filled with bookcases and books and we read on a regular basis.

But if I ask my child one more time what he wants to be and he says “a mine craft”……which isn’t even a thing by the way; it’s a game.
I’m going to scream.

I remember back to a simpler time when I wanted to go as Brittany Spears and I could; as long as I took the CD cover.

And my favorite books at the age of eight were legitimately Sherlock Holmes and Jane Eyre but that didn’t stop me wanting to be a pop princess for the day.

Because who wants to be a poor girls who’s left all alone and dresses in rags.
No! I wanted glitter pants and blue lipstick!
Yassssssss queeeeeeen!!

But now it’s all “my child chose to be pipping long stockings because she’s read the book 14 times and she’s 3.”

Ummm no; no she’s hasn’t Susan.
You love pipping long stockings and your living vicariously through your child.
And that’s fine but at least just be honest about it and stop making us feel bad that our three year olds can’t read; anything.

And since when did everyone become such Mary Poppins and Martha Stewarts?

I literally cannot sew to save my life.
Like if someone was like here fix this small hole in my pants or I’ll kill you.
I’d be like “ well death it is sir, for I cannot sew”

I swear there must have been a sewing class in school but I was to busy listening to Justin Timberlake “I’m bringing sexy back” while drinking passion pop.

Now look I’m not saying I’m perfect. (clearly)

All I’m saying is on top of being a poor mans version of Betty Crocker for class parties and organizing day to day reading and homework and lunches that are semi nutritious and clean uniforms.

I just can’t do book week. So f#ck you book week.

Last year I just kept checking for temperatures in the hope that my child would get a mysterious illness.

This year I’m going on a business trip and all four kids have book week on the same day; goodluck with that Dave.

I’m just so happy that so many books wrote about Pirates because that’s all there going to be for the next six years of their tiny little lives.

Unless they plan to sew.
Goodluck with that:
It’s harder than it looks.

Krechelle
Xx

This post originally appeared on Eightathome Facebook page – read more on Facebook

How do you really feel about book week?

Share your comments below.

18 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 25 Oct 2022
    1:29 pm
My Mum one year made me a nuns outfit and I went as the flying nun. She put so much effort in

- - Ellen said
  - 08 Sep 2018
    9:16 am
Yep, I go with the outfits I have at home as well. By lack of book or dvd this year, I printed a sheet of the computer, stuck it on a piece of cardboard and pretended it was a book. Easy peasy 🙂

- - Blossom said
  - 01 Sep 2018
    5:37 pm
I thought Book Week was simply supposed to be to encourage children to read books, something a lot of children don’t do much these days.

- - tessie said
  - 30 Aug 2018
    12:46 pm
I never had that problem when my boys went to school as they didn’t have book week.

- - rovermum said
  - 27 Aug 2018
    9:41 am
It shouldn’t be a competition. Sad that it’s gone that way, but with the upsurge of social media and what I’m seeing on it for Book Week, I’m not surprised. It is about the kids, parents!!

- - mom93821 said
  - 26 Aug 2018
    9:16 am
Never a big deal – dress up box and cheap bits and pieces from thrift shops.

- - mom74252 said
  - 25 Aug 2018
    2:07 pm
Bring back Fancy Dress events for children! They could be run by community groups wishing to fund raise. We loved them back in the 50s!!!

- - mom74252 said
  - 25 Aug 2018
    2:04 pm
Back in the 1950s we used to have Fancy Dress parades at our Sunday School. We looked forward to them all year. We could go as anything we wanted. There were a number of prize categories e.g. Best Dressed Boy/Girl under 5 Best Dressed Boy/Girl 5 – 10 years. This’d probably have to rethought today I suppose ! Most Inventive Out fit etc…. etc….
I don’t see why various other community groups couldn’t run such events as fund raisers. I think they’d be very welcomed & highly successful.

- - mom68673 said
  - 25 Aug 2018
    1:09 pm
Honestly book week isnt what it was like years ago. Kids dress up as anything they want. Whether it’s from a book or not.
More kids are going as movie characters. It’s harder to find costumes for books than movies. Unless you are really good at sewing.

- - curlytops said
  - 25 Aug 2018
    10:44 am
what a lovely photo of happy smily pirates. ahhhhhhhhh!!

- - kjgarner said
  - 24 Aug 2018
    9:00 pm
We just had book week this week, my 3 girls loved it, one went as Cat woman, the other as Elsa and one as Old MacDonald had a farm (farmer) with my eldest son dressed up as a dog but not in the picture and my youngest son dressed up as a giraffe cause apparently they live at farms too… My daughter says…

- - rachel1970 said
  - 24 Aug 2018
    8:25 pm
Book week’s a pain for me, was fine when I had one at school, but all four at primary school was a killer. I’m glad our school decided not to do it this year!

- - jools41 said
  - 23 Aug 2018
    7:27 am
Love book week, I usually can muddle something together…
- mom93821 replied
  
  27 Aug 2018 , 8:13 am
  Yep! Just takes a little bit of creativity and using resources on hand and finding other cheap bits and pieces.
- - Ellen said
  - 23 Aug 2018
    4:15 am
I don’t think it’s a big deal. We just look what we have in the dress up box and see if we can find a book with it, otherwise we make a sign. I don’t think about buying, making or borrowing anything for this.

- - BellaB said
  - 22 Aug 2018
    6:39 pm
I’m not great at costumes – disliked them as a kid, still do – but luckily my husband enjoys it.

- - mom74005 said
  - 22 Aug 2018
    4:14 pm
It can be tough if you’re not creative. I can’t wait for my turn to help the kids dress up. Although I love that type of stuff. Can’t exactly sew, but creative. I can paper mache..

- - mom114371 said
  - 22 Aug 2018
    2:44 pm
Book week is fun for the kids. I’m sure plenty of parents since the beginning of time have felt this way but why spoil it for the children.