Comments on: Cute Things I Loathe: The Class ____-gram

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:56:34 +0000

Thanks for weighing in, ladies. I’m going with my gut and am ordering 26 pumpkin and ghost grams from school today. The teacher said it wasn’t necessary, but I’ll feel better knowing that every kid will go home with at least one.

By: blg

blg — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:50:30 +0000

The difference between the gift wrap fundraiser and the candy-gram is the added wrinkle of it turning into a popularity contest. For the gift wrap fundraiser, I, too, write a check directly to the school or PTA…who really wants their crate of dried out oranges (my godson sold these four years in a row). But the popularity contest sort of fundraising is a tough one. If you can afford it, I guess you should buy one for everyone in Simon’s class. And then get to work to help the school find less painful ways to raise money.
PS – I wonder if the teachers of that third grade class take a moment to look at the list of recipients and find a way to balance things out?

By: tlalbaugh

tlalbaugh — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:11:18 +0000

Ugh, those carnation fundraisers were the WORST in high school. I can’t believe they even allow that sort of thing in elementary school. I have hated ALL school fundraising since I was a kid and our PTA already had one of those awful gift wrap/candy fundraisers this fall that realistically only the parents were responsible for (“Don’t sell to strangers or door to door” say the materials; that means the parents are supposed to sell in their offices or something, which Tom and I will not do–makes us crazy). I already told my family (all out of state) that I will not ask them to buy from us as long as we don’t have to buy from them, and that’s worked so far. For that first fundraiser, we wrote a $30 check to the PTA. That way all the funds go directly to the organization and I didn’t have to ask people to buy a bunch of junk they don’t need. I do buy a Christmas wreath from the Boy Scouts in my neighborhood every year and support bake sales and whatnot, but the fundraiser catalogs/”win great gifts the more you sell” rackets, nope, I cannot abide. Girl Scout cookies are even on my no list these days because the ingredients are so horrendous. Yes, I’m very crabby about this issue!

By: eveleigh

eveleigh — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:15:25 +0000

My school had carnation fundraisers, and I remember the hurt feelings. I also remember talking about how I didn’t want one anyway because I was too cool for all that, and of course it became a self-fulfilling prophecy that left me feeling like a loser at the end of the day when some girls got armfuls of flowers while others went home empty-handed.

I vote for the all-or-nothing strategy, as long as it isn’t financially prohibitive. Also remember that this is something your son will be doing for the next six years, possibly a few times a year. Or maybe he can give out his own ‘ghost grams’ in the form of a unique lollipop or something? It may not raise the desired funds, but it’ll show that he gave it a little more thought.