When I was a kid, your teacher gave you pencils on the first day of school.
And paper. And crayons.
And all the other shit you would need to get you through the day.
You know what my kids got on the first day of school?
A list of all the crap that I need to buy them for school.
Like pencils. And crayons. And markers. And dry erase markers.
And ear buds.
And graphing calculators.
Oh yeah.
And they also brought home this:
A fundraiser packet.
Now, my kids are not supposed to bring in treats to school for their birthdays anymore unless they are healthy, but on the first day of school they are encouraged to go out and beg people to buy chocolate chip cookies and caramel nut clusters and gummi bears from a company called…
Miss Chocolate.
Our country has been on the brink of financial ruin for the last few years.
Instead of teaching our young children the value of saving money, and buying out of necessity, we are teaching them to beg our neighbors and friends and relatives to buy complete and total garbage.
Who the fuck needs a Cell Phone Holder that looks like this?
Or a Zebra Jewelry Organizer?
And what percentage of the $8 I pay for the Serenity Prayer Plaque
or the $17 I pay for the piece of shit Monterey Taco Holder
is even going to be given to my school?
What a load of crap.
You know what?
Screw your fundraiser.
Don’t even send it home.
We will not participate.
Because what does the money even go to?
Parents pay for supplies. They pay security deposits for iPads. They pay for field trips. They pay for intramural sports. They even pay for high school sports.
How about we skip the assembly where my kid watches a dude blow a bunch of bubbles?
Or, even better (because my kids really do enjoy the bubble blowing assembly) how about this…
You want us to give you money (because when it comes down to it, we all end up ordering most of the stuff for our kids ourselves anyway)?
Give me something worthwhile in return.
Organize a fundraiser that would actually do some good.
We have a problem with childhood obesity in this country.
How about you organize a kids’ race?
Encourage kids to get up and move.
How about offering a healthy cooking class and a yoga class and a dance class where all the proceeds go to the school?
Or, even better…
How about offering parents a Mom and Dad’s Night Out for 10 bucks a kid?
Have the high school kids who are interested in childhood education work it.
Let it count toward their volunteer hours. Or let it count for a class period.
That’s a win-win all around.
That would be something I could use, that would be something worthwhile, and that is definitely something I would gladly pay (large amounts of) money for.
Thank you for making me Number 1!
Please keep voting!
Click on the banner below and you have registered your vote for me!
YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!
I completely agree. We do not participate in these fundraisers either. And my kids school does this huge assembly of all the prizes they could get if they sell a certain amount, but that certain amount is like $1000. When my son was in Kindergarten he brought it home and said holding up the folder “Look at what I prizes I get to pick from”.
Sorry, son. I will not make you pound the pavement at the ripe old age of 5. I feel that is child abuse. So really you won’t get that prize, but you will get your afternoon to run and jump and play and that is far more valuable.
Fabulous ideas!
An idea to bring up to your PTA is the fundraiser your local schools do. They raise lots of money and 100% goes to the school. Its called “Laps for school name” kids ask for sponcers. a few dollars from neighbors or distant relatives with postcards. On the day of the of the event the kids dress up in a class room theme (they make it is class) and they run around the track as much as they can. Parents come and watch. They have a DJ and face painting. The kids have a great time and there is no stuff to deliver. Just a thought.
I don’t think the schools realize that many places of employment don’t allow you to sell anything at work. If I sell stuff for a school fundraiser, why can’t Jane Doe sell her homemade honey and jam at work? HRs reasoning is that if you can use company time to raise money for school, why can’t someone else use company time to raise money for a personal business. I know its crazy, but if 75 people have school age kids in one building and sell stuff at work, there would always be a fundraiser flyer at someone’s cube.
Sign me up for the Mom and Dad’s night out!
it all boils down to state dollars. If the state gives $500 per student and the school needs $600 per student (teacher salary, maintenance, etc) they have to make that $100 per student up somehow. Box tops and soup labels only get you so much. That’s why they do fundraisers. I loathe the overpriced catalogs that they send out because you know for a fact that for every $8 thing…they keep 6 dollars, the thing cost 1.50 and the school gets fifty cents. I’m just happy my kid’s school doesn’t do these types of fundraisers…..(they DO do the Parents Night Out, Market Day, and Scrip…which are completely voluntary and instead of begging people to buy stuff….its stuff you buy for your own home –groceries and gift cards to stores) Susie…maybe you should bring your ideas to the PTA for fundraisers.
I totally agree with you, I’ve been on the executive board of the PTO at our school for years and we don’t do any of those type of fundraisers, it’s all crap. Our main fundraiser is a silent auction but we do some other things like a walkathon, market day, etc. The money goes towards budget shortfalls like smart boards for each classroom, we bring in speakers for classroom activities and host after school enrichment programs. A few years ago we even had to raise money for new playground equipment since there was no money in the budget to replace the previous structure. I’m sure they’re always looking for volunteers though, it doesn’t take much time or effort and if you suggest those fundraisers I’m sure they’d be delighted with fresh ideas and perspectives.
Yes, these are trying times, indeed! The reason why you pay for all those things you listed (sports, supplies, field trips, etc.) is because the school budget can’t cover all of those things anymore. Schools are being required to do much more with much less every year. In our district, programs and staff get cut, and the PTO tries to help more and more to make up the difference. So first of all, I hope that you do support your school by voting in favor of your town/school budget if that is how your town operates. Second of all, I want to say that it is probably poor judgment for the PTA to send home the flyer for selling crappy stuff on the 1st day of school! Ouch! And, yes, I agree, those fundraisers are the worst. But you know what? In our school, they get a good response. Go figure. We make pretty good money on them. And then we pay for some pretty good programs for our kids. (Our PTO earns about 40% of the total sales. And parents can always send a check in without buying anything – then we get 100%!). But you have great ideas that would probably make good money & have other benefits – don’t keep them to yourself! I know you certainly have your hands full, but get involved as much as you can to help improve things. That’s a good lesson for our kids, too.
I just got back from a PTO meeting about our big fundraiser…a Walk/Dance-a-thon! Any money the kids raise earns tickets to buy their prizes. All of the prizes are useful and most of the prizes are donated so 100% of the money stays at the school. No junk coming home and all of the money pays for the fun family events the PTO organizes throughout the year. Luckily, every PTO member hates having the kids sell stuff for an outside company, just so the school to earn pennies on the dollar. Have fun recycling all of those nasty fundraising packets 🙂
As a single aunt to about 20 kids…I applaud the parents who don’t burden their friends and family with these stupid fund raisers.
We always had to buy school supplies – what we did not have to buy was hand sanitizer, TP and copy paper. I feel strongly about supporting teachers…and education and I have been buying school supplies for a class in philly at the school where my best friend teaches for better than 10 years. ( 23-30 per year) plus mystery kids in my youngest niece and nephews classes just to ease the burden on the teachers. Because the teacher end up providing what the parents can’t/won’t.
But what kids me is that none of the schools I know of will take donations of money in the denominations I can afford. They would rather have the kids sell things, than accept donations of $50 – $100 from a single person. When I asked why two of them told me ‘You have to have something really wrong with you to want to do that.” So my money which would be pure profit is not good enough for them because I don’t have kids. BUT I can be sold to by every kid I know, if they chose.
Makes no sense at all.
Wow, that is just gross- our school sells money cards that are the same value as the payment- like 20 dollars for Target, etc., and they get a percentage.
Your ideas are great, too.
Heidi- GirltoMom.com
AMEN!!!!!!
Amen amen amen!
SO many good ideas there.
And btw, congrats on reclaiming #1 on TMB!
Ha! Thanks Anne.
Slow and steady wins the race 😉
Right on SusieJ! My daughter just entered 1st Grade. In Kindergarten, she practically came home with candy every day, along with some type of form asking for money. Sometimes twice a week. I also understand the kids get to select their entree for school lunch which can equate to pizza every day! I remember we only had Pizza on Friday’s and would look forward to it the entire week.
Though times are tough, ‘we’ as adults should show our kids, the meaning of wholesome relationships and sincerity, instead of spamming everyone we know with nonsense; talking with them only to ask for a buck. Right on SusieJ!
While I’m sure it’s difficult for schools to keep up with modern day costs (let’s be honest, most schools nowadays are head and shoulders above old schools in terms of hygiene, safety etc) I do agree with:
“Now, my kids are not supposed to bring in treats to school for their birthdays anymore unless they are healthy,
but on the first day of school they are encouraged to go out and beg people to buy chocolate chip cookies and caramel nut clusters and gummi bears from a company called
Miss Chocolate.”
Terrible double standard