Usually, when it's school fundraiser time, I wince. There's always the big assembly in which some sales guy from the company the school has chosen drums up the product, spices it with gobs of hype and then makes the kids salivate with the potential prizes they'll win if they sell copious amounts.
All AB and Sissy get out of it is Holy Crap! I'm gonna win a bunch of stuff!
One year AB thought HE had to buy the stuff to win the prizes.
Another year Sissy thought selling 150 items was no big deal and she was prepared to tell me to just go ahead and do it then.
But this year is the best misinterpretation yet. Yesterday AB came home from school and proceeded to take new trash bags and fill them up with his personal items. I thought he was just purging unwanted things. Until he told me he wanted to sell them. At recess. For money.
Not wanting a fight, I told him we'd talk about it later. So this morning The Dad says, "what's with the bags of toys in the hall?"? And AB began to explain, "Some kid told me I could sell it and then spin the wheel and I might win $200."
At which point I had to stifle a giggle and The Dad was more bewildered than before. So I attempted to explain without laughing. "It's the school fundraiser, Dad. If the children sell the cookie dough and wrapping paper, one of the prizes is a chance to spin the prize wheel to receive an award. The best prize is $200."
The Dad's turn to look away so he didn't laugh.
AB was still confused so we said we'd talk about it more after school. As AB cleared his breakfast things he said, "mom, so... I should sell COOKIES?"
6 comments:
Your quilt from yesterday's post is awesome! Good-on-you!
In today's post, I think you used AB's real name ... 'just F.Y.I.
Maria xxxo
Oops ... I signed with kisses and hugs ... 'been writing emails to family. I guess you might like the hugs ... but perhaps kisses is a bit much?
Maria :-)
I agree! Personally, I hate school fundraisers. We are up in the woods and not in a fundraising friendly neighborhood...so walking door-to-door is out. We don't have much family - so that's out, too. We work/worked for non profits that run their own fundraisers, so bringing our kid's stuff to work is out...and it just adds stress to our lives to explain the probability of them winning an all expense paid trip to Europe for selling two hundred rolls of freakin' wrapping paper. ARGH. Hate it.
@ Maria - I'll take the kisses too! I'm not RADish! lol
That's why I like to homeschool!! No fundraisers, no unwanted sex ed classes and no bed bugs (most recently in the news here)
School fundraisers are dark sided. They truly are. My oldest went to a neighborhood public school through fifth grade. At that point we moved him and his brother to private school. My daughter started her school career in the same private school and she will graduate from there next year, since it's pre K-12th grade.
One thing we hated about public school was the time wasted on "assemblies" where the kids were herded into the auditorium and exhorted to sell cookies, wrapping paper, etc. to win prizes (all for the good of the school, of course.)
The kids came home burning with zeal to win a bike or a computer or some other item they already owned. They were always disappointed when they ended up winning some crappy plastic thing because we have a small family and while we didn't mind asking grandma and a few other relatives to buy stuff hubby and I weren't about to peddle cookies and gift wrap at work. Hubby and I are attorneys and the kids wanted us to try and sell stuff to our clients. A discussion about ethics made no impression on them whatsoever.
Private school didn't have cookie dough/wrapping paper sales, thank God, but the parents were encouraged to attend $100 a plate dinners and purchase tickets to win cruises and cars. it was the same thing but taken to a higher level.
I really wish schools would focus on education and stop distracting kids with bogus prizes for selling useless stuff.
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