Back to school night -- parents only?

[Anonymous]

Don't be one of those parents. It always happens, someone brings a kid and ends up throwing a fit but the parents won't leave becuase they want to get the information the teacher is giving out but she has to stop because the kid is making so much noise the teacher can't speak.

Sort of like the parent who screws up the pick up line

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be one of those parents. It always happens, someone brings a kid and ends up throwing a fit but the parents won't leave becuase they want to get the information the teacher is giving out but she has to stop because the kid is making so much noise the teacher can't speak.

Sort of like the parent who screws up the pick up line

You don't get to make the choice for my family about how we spend our child care money. The school should set aside a room--and get sitters with PTA money. We pay $500+ for dues plus donate a lot of our time to to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was assuming kids would not be included in back to school night (too crowded) so I got a babysitter. Is that right?

Janney Parent here:

It is incredibly annoying to have no childcare provided we have 3 kids --one is a baby a and a sitter is $60-70 for the 3 of them. That is grocery or

kid's shoe money.I realize many families in the neighborhood can do this; it is, however presumptuous for the the administration to assume this --

it is a burden to our family and my husband usually has to stay home with the kids--if he isn't traveling or simply cannot get away from work.

When that happens I really hate the dirty, quizzical looks I get when I bring my brood to back to school. Plu the fact that it just makes it so

stressful to keep them under control at the school and get any constructive info from teachers and staff, etc.

My DH and I split back-to-school night duty; one of us goes and the other stays at home with the kids. It is really not hard.

Last year I went to back-to-school night and missed out on certain information because of noise and disruptions created by children who should not have been there to begin with.

Sorry, no sympathy here. You can switch off with your spouse, or not go. But don't disrupt the experience for others who have planned ahead in order to attend without children.

[Anonymous]

I just got back from back to school night. Left the kids home with mmy husband. All the parents asked me where my kids were!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was assuming kids would not be included in back to school night (too crowded) so I got a babysitter. Is that right?

Janney Parent here:

It is incredibly annoying to have no childcare provided we have 3 kids --one is a baby a and a sitter is $60-70 for the 3 of them. That is grocery or

kid's shoe money.I realize many families in the neighborhood can do this; it is, however presumptuous for the the administration to assume this --

it is a burden to our family and my husband usually has to stay home with the kids--if he isn't traveling or simply cannot get away from work.

When that happens I really hate the dirty, quizzical looks I get when I bring my brood to back to school. Plu the fact that it just makes it so

stressful to keep them under control at the school and get any constructive info from teachers and staff, etc.

My DH and I split back-to-school night duty; one of us goes and the other stays at home with the kids. It is really not hard.

Last year I went to back-to-school night and missed out on certain information because of noise and disruptions created by children who should not have been there to begin with.

Sorry, no sympathy here. You can switch off with your spouse, or not go. But don't disrupt the experience for others who have planned ahead in order to attend without children.

We don't HAVE a regular babysitter and sometimes my husband has to travel on short notice. So, I will do the best I can, but not everyone has your options. You are a battle ax sanctimommy.

[Anonymous]

Um, "don't disrupt the experience?" 'Cause you're a better planner?

Oh please.

Lotsa kids at back to school night the other night. If you can't handle an occasional crying baby in a school auditorium, I'm not sure why you have kids.

[Anonymous]

And if you are in a situation where there's no spouse to switch off with, or you can't for WHATEVER reason, you have just as much right to be at back to school night as everyone else. Maybe moreso. It's more important to go than not, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And if you are in a situation where there's no spouse to switch off with, or you can't for WHATEVER reason, you have just as much right to be at back to school night as everyone else. Maybe moreso. It's more important to go than not, IMO.

Thank you. I wish there were more parents with this type of forgiving attitude at my kids school. Chock full of battle ax sanctimommies.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. I never would have thought this would turn into a heated thread! Our school asked for kids not to come, although there were a few there. We were only gone an hour and a half, and so our babysitter was only $15, so money well spent. It was fun to meet the other parents in my son's class.

[Anonymous]

I think back to school night means a variety of things to a variety of schools.

[Anonymous]

For the PP with three kids, it's one thing if your kids are school aged and can stay quiet/entertain themselves but an entire different story if you have three kids under 4 who need constant attention. I have less problems with babies being there than noisy toddlers who are up way past bedtime.

[Anonymous]

There are some schools that provide childcare, which is great. If your school does not, maybe you should propose it to the PTA or something? I know at our school childcare is not provided and children were specifically asked to stay home (unless there is an emergency). We are just lucky to have grandparents and an aunt nearby to babysit. When we lived away from family, I always went and DH stayed home. That's just the way it was.

[Anonymous]

Imagine if every parent brought their kids with them. Do you really expect that the school can provide care for every student plus who knows how many older or younger siblings? It's just not possible. The whole back to school night takes less than 2 hours. Find a sitter, neighbor, family member, etc to watch your kid.

[Anonymous]

Call and ask the school.

Some schools specifically state that back-to-school night is for parents only. Bringing children to an event that is parents only is rude. Would you also bring them to a wedding which said "no children" just because you didn't want to find a sitter? Do you take them to work with you?

Either leave them with your husband, hire a sitter, or ask a friend to take care of them for a couple of hours. Or don't go. But, if you're going to start the year by deliberately flouting stated school policies, your children are destined to be discipline cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call and ask the school.

Some schools specifically state that back-to-school night is for parents only. Bringing children to an event that is parents only is rude. Would you also bring them to a wedding which said "no children" just because you didn't want to find a sitter? Do you take them to work with you?

Either leave them with your husband, hire a sitter, or ask a friend to take care of them for a couple of hours. Or don't go. But, if you're going to start the year by deliberately flouting stated school policies, your children are destined to be discipline cases.

Yes, dry teated hag. You the boss of me and all the undisciplined flouters. Flatten us under your brown sensible heel.