Thursday 5 June is World Book Day. ?

My DGC had to choose a word for this year and their teachers said to only use what we had available already if they wanted to dress up. However I know that many parents will buy (often expensive) outfits for their children. I am always the one that produces costumes for these events and usually make them myself. We based their words on what they already had to wear and which fitted their characters. Hence very little effort except for printing out the words. I look forward to seeing the class photos of the event.

If there are no children's books in the house the parents are not doing their job. It doesn't have to cost a lot to provide a costume and the children love dressing up. I worked in a school office for nearly thirty years and children and staff loved WBD. As far as staff go, a blouse, long skirt and a hat with a flower (which could be paper) makes you Mary Poppins. The men could just find a striped t shirt and cap,make a mask, find a bag (p e bag?) and they are Bill the Burglar. I've certainly done these and more. Charity shops are full of useful stuff and it doesn't have to be last minute, we all know it is coming. The putting together of the costume stimulates the children's imagination. I always felt sorry for the children with freshly bought costumes.

I've just dropped both GC off at school and pre school and the huge array of costumes on display was awesome! Some were shop bought but many were home made and they all looked wonderful. The ingenuity of some was just amazing; a blue gingham dress, a pair of red pumps and the little girls hair in plants made an excellent Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Many of the parents swap their costumes with other parents, from one year to the next, and that cuts down on cost. Overall, the excitement for the coming day in school was a positive.

Fairly late last night I had the idea of sending Gds as Mr Bump - if dd had any actual bandages to festoon him with. And lo, she did, so with some blue ‘bruises’ added, off he went.
Entirely appropriate for him - a human hurricane, always bashing himself.
Though TBH he could just have plastered a bit more Weetabix than usual down himself, and gone as Mr Messy.

Gdd had a little Dutch Girl outfit that was a present nearly a year ago, so it is now (ahem) no longer Dutch but mid-European, and with plaited hair she’s gone as Gretel.

Still think it’s time to put a stop, though. So many parents who have to work just don’t have the time or skills to make anything, and buying anything is an unnecessary expense, not to mention a waste of money, and means just more imported (usually polyester) tat to ultimately clutter up landfill.