Parenting Lesson: Always Read the School Notices

We get a lot of notices - little scraps of paper that come on in the reading folder - sausage sizzles, reading book re-shelving days, mufti-days, X needs a new exercise book, topic related excursions, swimming etc etc etc. As well as the weekly official school notice.

But there's one that gets the notice of the kids every time: The End of Term Class Treat notice. Each class earns marbles in the jar. If they get enough they then get to have a treat (wear mufti, shared afternoon tea, bring their scooters or watch a movie or something). Generally they have "Wacky Hair" too and a good time is had by all. The teachers wangle it so that the requisite number of marbles is achieved just at the last week or so of term.

Now every so often I think I've got it going in terms of being super-organised - just a few seconds of delusion. With four kids there are a lot of notices (the twins get notices from preschool too - and all their art - tonnes and tonnes of art - but that's another story). Anyway, yes, I thought I was on to it.

Class treat? Piece of cake. I was ready. Son had stayed up a little bit later the night before and we'd made crackle cakes (you know those sweet sticky things made of cornflakes, butter, honey and sugar, sugar, sugar). Other kids had a little one in their lunchboxes so as not to feel left out. The lunches were all made and in the bags, the reading/spelling records signed, the son already in his mufti and almost good to go.

Just one thing - the wacky hair. I was ready for this too. Had half a can of blue glitter hairspray up in the top cupboard. A lot of spray, a few spikes et voila: wacky hair.

Five minutes later I was too busy creating a cloud of hairspray to really be able to hear my son asking, "Are you sure its wacky hair?"

Then, he said it again, slightly panicked tone, "Mum, I don't think its wacky hair. Are you sure it's wacky hair?"

Of course it was wacky hair. It's always wacky hair. And we never achieve wacky hair because I'm never organised enough to. But today? I am so there...

And my poor, obedient son is standing there eyes shut, being still for the spray while I'm not listening...

Fortunately, for once in my disorganised mum life, I'd put the notice up on the fridge. I never used to put notices up - I read once in a decluttering article not to put things on the fridge because they get left there forever and look cluttered. Not sure where you are supposed to put the notices though - I think that was the problem really. Mine went either into one of many bottomless piles cluttering up the top of the kitchen bench, or straight into the recycling (but hey, my fridge looked sooooo decluttered!). Either way, they never got read again and could certainly never be found again when needed. So it was back to the fridge.

Eldest daughter scurried to the kitchen (leaving the cloud of blue glitter) and read the notice. She came back, unable to meet my eyes. By now the can of blue glitter hairspray is empty and the son has sparkly blue spiked hair. He looked cute actually - rather like a bewildered punk Smurf.

"Does it say wacky hair?" son rather desperately asks his sister.

"It doesn't seem to mention it."

Oh. Cue time for me to finally get it together and go and read the notice. Read it again. And once more for luck.

Yeah, no mention of wacky hair.

Well, it doesn't matter, does it? He's allowed mufti - blue glitter hair can be mufti... and I did such a great job... I was so on to it - ahead of time and everything.

It's at this point that Super Dad steps in. Reading the panic on his son's face (and a hissed "he can't go to school like that" to me, he says "Don't worry, I can wash that out in a jiffy." I asked him if he wanted it washed out - his expression? One definite hell yes. Of course I realise that in a few years, the boy will probably want to have completely way out, different hair and we'll be begging him to wash it, not the other way round.

But for now, Dad's put in too much shampoo to be able to wash out in 5 seconds (waaaaaay too many glittery blue bubbles) - so I get to feel vaguely useful again as the pro-shampoo-and-rinse person in the house - achieving normality while keeping all his clothing dry.

So in the end, normal-haired, cute kid gets to school bang on time. Social crisis averted, crackle cakes eaten, and he came home later ultra happy as the "star of the day". I got the notice off the fridge and into the bin leaving only current notices on there (most of the fridge is covered).

But there has to be a better way, right? Not this last-minute flurry of activity 10 minutes before the bell goes... am I the only mum who stuffs up reading the school notices?

Do you read the mountain of school/sporting/extra-curricular notices or do you drown in the ever growing pile? Do you keep them on fridge, the recycling or have you got some super smart system that catapults you into the super-parent stratosphere - and if so, can you please share!

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SharonP   #1   10:56 am Jun 28 2010

No super smart system here, just the experience that tells me I need one.

I forgot to check through the piles of paper accumulating on the recipe book stand, and didn't realise till too late that I had missed the deadline for my 3 kids to sit independent tests this year. They were all very unimpressed with me as it was something they all wanted to do.

Won't let that happen again - just need a system to ensure it!

daikini   #2   11:09 am Jun 28 2010

No clever system here, other than entering all important dates into Outlook and setting reminders for up to 2 days before... hoping that by the time all 5 are at school (youngest is only 6m) I'll have figured out a better place to keep the notices than the computer desk! On the fridge doesn't work here because the preschoolers pull them off to hang their latest artworks.

MichelleP   #3   11:14 am Jun 28 2010

I forgot to read the notices one day and wondered why it was eerily quiet when I went to pick up #1 son from school one day. If I had read the notices I would have known that school finished at 1:30pm instead of 3pm so that teachers could do parent child interviews. Needless to say I felt like the worst mother on earth when I finally tracked down my son in the school library with all of the other children of bad parents. I think he has forgiven me.

ScrabbleChick   #4   11:17 am Jun 28 2010

I have the problem that I don't receive the school notices. My kids are with their dad on school newsletter day and it doesn't always get passed on to me. However our school posts its notices on the internet so I can read them there. However there are always ad hoc notices coming home in schoolbags that I don't always get. If anyone else has the perfect system for co-parenting, I'm all ears!

sher   #5   11:18 am Jun 28 2010

sounds like an opportunity for an iphone app!

Pophiri   #6   12:16 pm Jun 28 2010

My son's school gone digital = what a nightmare. They send an email advising newsletter on school website (why they can't just email it to you I have no idea). I think 'I'll take a look when I get a chance, too busy right now'. Trouble is, I never get round to it. Last semester newsletter included a link to a website to book teacher interviews, woops.

paul   #7   12:31 pm Jun 28 2010

Schools should invest in mass texting systems. Parents subscribe and get an automatic notification (or email) the night before.

Dad   #8   12:33 pm Jun 28 2010

This was a blessing in disguise, because it showed your son how to behave in a crisis, with eveybody mucking in, so to speak, as a team to solve the problem. Wonderful.

Often I've seen parents screaming at their children and immediately pointing blame, or trying to deflect liability, rather than calmly owning the problem and sorting it out. One kid was bawled out in the public carpark for losing a sprig on his soccer boot! Another told off because he simply said he was thirsty! The mother said she was sick of always having to remember to bring the kid's drink bottle and it was about time he started doing it himself. And about ten feet away there was a public drinking fountain!

Anyway, I reckon some parents could have much happier children by following your example.

angela   #9   12:40 pm Jun 28 2010

My seven yr old has still not forgiven me for not reading the notices in time to buy him the 20 items required for their ´colonial era toy making´project. These included a broom handle, wire, two different kinds of string and a whole pile of other things. If I´d read it in time I would have made it to the hardware store.... We also forget sports day for our 3 yr old that she´s not allowed to go to and she cries for the rest of the day when we take her to school and then have to bring her straight back home again! Sigh.... yes, a system would be nice.

Alice2   #10   12:49 pm Jun 28 2010

My family's always had a large corkboard somewhere for notices, calendars, artworks & business cards. At our old house it was in the kitchen above the chest freezer, in the current one, it's in the walk-in pantry. Mum religiously writes everything on the calendar & keeps notes for a few months then checks them & tosses any that are out of date. It's worked pretty well for us, and I've transferred the system to my flats, where I use a half-cork, half-white board for the chore roster, bill notifications & phone messages.

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