Friday, December 21, 2007

My Last Nerve Just Kicked Its Own Ass

Because I don't have enough to do...Mr. Farklepants dropped Girl-Child off at preschool today. She was all set carrying her bag that contained the gifts for her teachers and special candy canes (i.e. they had curled ribbon on them) for her classmates and she was so excited. So, imagine my bewilderment when I picked her up, one of her teachers says "Girl-Child was a little upset today during the gift exchange".
Me: "What gift exchange and why was she upset"?
Teacher: "The children were supposed to each bring in a wrapped toy to donate to the school for the gift exchange"
And she said it kinda snotty-ish. I look at my daughter and I see no signs of the supposed upsetness (apparently so not a word). I think this teacher just wanted me to know that we were naughty and didn't donate a gift. In other words, I had just been served. She assured me that they gave my daughter a present to open, but that's not even what gets me. There are a couple of things here that are chapping my hide and at the same time confusing me. So perhaps I ought to put off the chaffing until the confusion is sorted out.

First of all, Girl-Child was absent a couple of days in the last two weeks because she's been sick. Gift exchange? I did not get this memo.

Second, when I picked my daughter up on Wednesday I specifically asked if there was anything special I needed to be doing for Friday and is there anything special going on? No. Just the kids exchanging gifts. <---this did not register anything other than the little trinkets and goodie bags kids tend to exchange in classrooms on holidays. So I did not ask for clarification because I was not aware I was unclear.

Third, WTF kind of gift exchange is it that 3 and 4 year olds get to open presents and NOT keep them? What kind of grotesque holiday torture is being practiced here?

And fourthly, the one that really just sends that stick up my ass is; we just had the winter festival this past Saturday for this school. That was their FUNDRAISER! So my question is, why in bloody FECK are we now donating toys to the school? Aside from the fact that I pay tuition here; for the fundraiser I did the following:
1) Buy 8 admission/raffle tickets at $5 a pop
2) Donate themed gift basket for silent auction $21.79
3) Bake and donate 24 cupcakes $10
4) Buy red leotard for performance $12
5) Buy flesh toned tights for performance $7
6) Bought various snacks from bake sale $10
7) Spend one hour as a parent volunteer at the arts and crafts table

And the teacher's appreciation for this effort? = none. For everything else, there's MasterCard.

4 comments:

JCK said...

I'd be pissed,too. Comparable gift exchange for 3 & 4 year olds? If it was such a big deal, why didn't the teacher call you? I guess they want your blood.

Madame Queen said...

Urg. I hate that kind of stuff. And there's nothing worse than someone who makes you feel like you've let your kid down. Our preschool always posts notes at the front where we sign in and that usually works pretty well.

Karen said...

I'm pretty sure you're justified in the way you feel. ARGH. I would definitely ask a certain preschooler how she felt, though. And upon returning to school I'd also probably mention to them that it was their fault that you didn't get the memo.

But opening gifts that they can't keep? That's probably why she would have been upset! What are they thinking?!

Tootsie Farklepants said...

JCK~ Yeah. I was wondering why she didn't call. Especially since daddy dropped her off, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that maybe HE didn't remember the gift. I could have ran out and picked one up toot-sweet!

Madame Queen~ Her school is pretty good about posting notices too. It's just that lately there have been so many sign up sheets and memos and such floating around that desk that I'm guilty of skimming, recognizing that I've seen it already, and ignoring. This could all very well be my fault. LOL!

Karen~ Yeah, I imagine my daughter wasn't the only child that was upset. LOL!