So, the sweet girl came home with a backpack full of school fundraiser information….and by full, I mean tip-her-over-backwards-FULL.
If you are interested, I’m happy to sell you jewelry, chocolate, wrapping paper, Holiday decor or Entertainment Books. Because, you know, my kiddo gets stuff if she sells a lot.
Back in the day, we sold candy bars. Back in the day, it was (or at least seemed to be) completely safe to wander door to door selling. Back in the day, you didn’t have to stand at a neighbors door for 25 minutes as they flipped through 3 different catalogs. Back in the day, no one asked you to bring a list to school of addresses of family and friends – who will in turn be solicited for magazines via snail mail.
Oh – and if some parents (read: me) don’t provide addresses, well, your small person does not get the very-coveted straw glasses (you know those goofy glasses made out of swirly drinking straws) that are given to complying classmates. This very situation caused a tantrum of epic proportions. I honestly think she feared getting into trouble if she didn’t have the list. I tried, in vain, to explain my position: I don’t give out addresses of friends to be solicited. Period. It is my personal policy.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I completely understand the need for school fundraisers and certainly understand the candy bars from ‘back in the day’ do not provide the same financial inflow as, say, the jewlery and holiday gifts, but WOW~ it is alot.
And the expectations for the students are high. High as in – ‘if you don’t sell a certain number of items, you don’t get to go to a special school event’.
So, the honest truth is, I’m a sucker. I didn’t cave for the straw glasses, but can’t stand the idea of the little girl being one of only a few kids in her class who isn’t allowed to go to the ‘special event’.
We will find a way to sell the minimum – even if it means you are all getting jewelry, gift wrap and choclate for Christmas.
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