DD1 just started school in September and they have two school bears which they send home with a book to write in about what the bear did at your house. They want you to print out photos of the bear at your house too, although this is optional, DD1 obviously wants to. We don’t have a printer at home so can’t easily do this. We have an hour between 4 and 5 for the kids to do what they want and I don’t want to make her do homework, writing in the book, when it seems to me she can more freely express what she needs to do when she gets home, by choosing her own activities. The other day we had the teddy for the 3rd time since September, feels like it comes home too much. And worst of all it smells and feels sticky and I just can’t get excited about having a bear in the house that has trawled round other peoples houses, who might have animals (I have allergies), or smoke (yuk). But when I asked the teacher on Friday if she could not send the bear home anymore to us, because it smelt and I didn’t think we got any value out of it coming home, she looked at me like I was gone out, bonkers etc etc and said but then your daughter will lose out and she is so excited about it coming home when she gets the bear. So she made me feel like a mean mummy for banishing my child from the joy of having the school bear. Should I just be grateful that it isn’t a guinea pig or a rabbit that I have to look after? Am I bonkers? Should I just chill out and have the smelly old bear? And most importantly please give your thoughts before Monday because the teacher has said she will talk to me about it this week so I have to convince her that I am not bonkers. BTW I know several other parents cringe when they get the bear coming home to them but obviously I am the first person to mention anything .....
You know on the one hand I understand what the teacher is saying and on the other I was to gip at the idea of a filthy teddy coming into my home and my child playing with it. I’m by no mean a clean goddess and I do think a bit of dirt is healthy.. but euurggghhh, when the bear smells and is sticky (yuck yuck yuck), then it’s time for teddy to have a bath!
So nope I don’t htink you’re bonkers at all and I’d be saying to the teacher that I have allergies and its a health risk for me and if my daughter is given the bear then it must be washed first.
My son had a similar bear thing when he used to go to the nursery well actually it was a tiger but anyway I know it got washed each time it had been at someones house after the weekend. Mind we only had the tiger once and it was me writing a little letter about what the tiger had done with us in our house. The nursery even supplied us with a camera so we could take some pictures. Is the bear going every night to different childs house or only on the weekend? If its just the weekend I would maybe suggest for it to be washed regular. For hygienic reasons anyway I know the tiger was not allowed to leave nursery if he hadn’t a wash. Maybe sell it to her like this and mention your allergies.
We have travel ted and monkey too sometimes - I don’t mind - but I do the writing, keep it to a reasonably short entry, and Eve draws the picture. She loves drawing anyway so this is no hardship for her. She does love having them -and so does Noah (I think that’s where monkey came from - an extra for younger siblings). About the smell - I am definitely not above slinging it in the washing machine! If you only have it over night I appreciate this isn’t too feasible but if I had it for the weekend I definitely would. You’d be doing everyone else a favour too as I bet they all think it’s minging as well! And I expect the teachers never think to wash it.
So…. I reckon you should let her bring it home if she DOES really like it (is it that she’s asked to have each of those three times?), but with the proviso that she doesn’t HAVE to do photos, writing or drawing if she doesn’t want to - and that he gets a wash if you say so.
Yep, I agree, just pop it in the machine before it touches the ground at your house! And you do a bit of writing and DD makes a picture. These things can quickly turn into a competition between parents, who has the ‘best’ piece, but you can just ‘not play that game’ and do your own take on it. I bet no one is going to say anything! Hope the teacher isn’t going to make a big deal out of it, surely they’d have something more important to do with their time!
I think they do this at a lot of schools and I can see it from both points of view!! Yes, most mums cringe at the thought of writing about their weekend etc and how to make it look exciting for the children. However, I work at a primary school and the children love to take home the soft toys and are so excited to be chosen. On Monday mornings they all get excited to see what ‘adventures’ the toy has had. Depending on the size of the class you should only be getting the toy once or twice a year if they only send it out at the weekends?
When we had the class ted home with us I had no printer and emailed photos for a friend to print out and sitck in the book. I also washed it too!!
I agree with Angie give him a wash and pin him by the ears to the washing line and take some photos and write how teddy was dirty so had a wash, if i was the teacher id find it really funny
We’ve had these too, and I’ve rather enjoyed having them. Part of their adventure is having a bath, which the child can join in with bathing the bear/ duck/ whatever! Also I’ve been known to do running repairs on it. We once had a bear whose arm was falling off, so part of the write up was making a sling to hold the arm on! I noticed this then stayed with the bear for a long time! If you have one of those weekends where either nothing much happens, or can’t be bothered with it, why not hide it amongst your child’s soft toys, take a picture and see if the bear can be spotted in “it’s” game of hide and seek?
TBH I’m amazed schools allow this in today’s climate of paranoia about everything- e.g. kids aren’t allowed to play conkers in case they get hurt, and at the school my sister works they can’t even use toilet role tubes for craft any more in case they’re harbouring germs!! To be honest, I wouldn’t want the stinky bear in my home; I know someone whose cat got fleas and the fleas loved jumping onto the fur of cuddly toys, so I don’t think it’s a good idea at all!
Oooh I’m so glad it’s not just me who winces when she sees Barnaby Bear (or Sid snake) on his way out of school with DD! The first time we had the bear it was also his first time too so he was nice and new. The next time we got him he was rather manky looking and did have a peculiar aroma! DD always wants the bloomin’ thing in bed with her but I always make her sit him next to the bed instead. I’m no domestic goddess so I know the potential contaminants he could pick up in our house (makes me sound like a dirty bugger doesn’t it!) and would hate to think of it aggravating someone elses allergies.
I think it is a pretty yukky practise tbh and if were a teacher I’d try and come up with an alternative or at least make sure it got washed between trips.
Bear could pick up the any of the following from his travels: Cat fleas, Worm eggs, chemical allergens from perfume products, pathogens (think snot!), fungal spores, smoke particles etc. All of these things can be found in household dust! Eeee I’d love to hand one of these cuddly toys over to Kim and Aggie for swabbing!
lol, we get these too, geoffrey giraffe & Tiger Tim have both been to stay at various points and are both disgusting and stinky & I can hardly bear to touch them! BUT the kids do love bringing them home, it does seem to make them feel special and IMO I think it would seem a bit unfair if only one child in the class wasnt allowed to bring it home anymore, unless of course you know that your dd really wouldnt be bothered if she never got another turn! Our diary entries are kept very brief DS1 is happy to do this and wants to spend time writing it but DS2 isnt so keen and the last time it was a hurried few lines after breakfast. I think on the whole its a nice idea but cant see any reason why you couldnt give him a wash
