Do you send your kids to school on their birthdays?

[charliecat]

My dds have the same birthday and this year I am planning on keeping them off so they can enjoy their birthday.
The alternative is sending them, them not having 5 mins to open their pressies let alone play with them and then with a heavy heart sending them off crying. Not for me.
If they got up at 5am and had chance to play I wouldnt mind but we barely have time for anything in the morning as it is so it would be chaotic...anyway...how much trouble am I going to get in for this? Do I lie and say they both had tummy bugs or what? What do you do?

[misdee]

i send them in. dd1 olds school used to give the kids cards and cake. she loved it when it was her birthday.

[Lucycat]

Why would they cry when they went to school? Send them in - I do, they get loads of fuss made of them and it will give you time to organise something special for when they get home!

[sassy]

As a teacher I have to say I strongly disapprove of this, sorry. I think it gives the message that school is avoidable - its also on dodgy ground legally unless its pre-arranged with the school as a holiday.

Can you make it more of an evening celebration and keep any day out treats for the weekend?

FWIW, I always loved going to school on my birthday (I don't now!) - lots of fuss, being sung to in assembly.

[wessexgirl]

Hmmm, charliecat, their class teachers will suss straight away what is going on. They might just leave it or they might phone you at home and give you a good telling off, young lady .

Personally I'd send them in (but then, my birthday was always in the school hols anyway).

[flashingnose]

I send them in. They have their presents after school and we make a very big fuss of them, they get to choose what they'd like to eat and we have the cake. I'd find it far too stressful to do it before school. They also appear to have a bit of a fuss made of them at school. In fact, I feel sorry for ds because his Birthday is in the holidays and so he'll never experience a Birthday at school!

[Blu]

get up a little bit early, give them one present each, send them to school to enjoy their day of being soecial in class, and then have a lovely time when they get home.

Why would they be crying when they go off to school?

[charliecat]

They dont like school at the best of times, the school does birthdays on a Friday at assembly regardless of what dau its on and I very much doubt the teachers will even notice it their birthdays. And if they do get in a hump about it I will jusy say that i think them lingering about for a whole morning waitng for the photographer was not too good for their education either.

[Feistybird]

Send them in. Think you're giving them the wrong message about school tbh.

[misdee]

send them in with badges on, the school are hardly likely to miss that massive clue are they lo9l.

[ggglimpopo]

Message withdrawn

[Dior]

Message withdrawn

[Hulababy]

I always knew when it was a child's birthday -it is on the registers. It was also disapproved off. If you do want to do this however, the right way to go about it is to ask permission, on a holiday form in advance, and to include it within your 10 permissable absence/holiday days.

DD will always go into school on her birthday. I always did. When I got home at 3:30 or whatever, we opened presents and had a birthday tea and a play then. We then had parties and wahtever on the weekend before or after.

It was the done thing though, and what we expected to happen - so no complaining or crying about it was involved. Mind, I can't see my parents putting up with that anyway!

[Lonelymum]

I send mine in too. It is regretable, but there is nothing to say you can't do something nice on another day - at the weekend.

As a New Year's Eve baby myself, I have never had to worry about this, and of my children, only ds1 has a birthday right in the middle of a term (ds2 is usually the first day of the Xmas holiday, ds3 will usually be Feb half term and dd is usually Easter holiday although not this coming year) so I don't often have to deal with this problem, but I have to say ds1 accepts he will go to school on his birthday with no fuss at all, whereas dd, who has up until now been lucky, was shocked to discover that this coming year she will have to go to school. I think if you just make them go from the very first time they have to, it won't be such an issue in future years.

[Twiglett]

I think that's a really bad idea and could potentially reinforce their negative opinions of school .. after all I don't have to go when its my birthday do I?

Are you sure this isn't more to do with you wanting to spend the actual day with them than them?

I think I would give them a little present before they go and make a big fuss of the birthday tea they're going to have when they get back .. I would also invite a couple of close school friends back for an informal tea .. and have their party at the weekend

[Freckle]

Mine love going to school on their birthdays. They get to hand out sweets (not something I approve of but they can't be the only ones not to, can they?). They will have a special birthday tea when they get home and then they always have a party on a more suitable day, so they get to celebrate twice.

[noddyholder]

Send them in especially if they don't like school at the best of times you don't want them to think there are ways of wriggling out of it!Meet them after school and take them off for a nice tea somewhere and then home for presenets and cake That should be plenty!

[zippitippitoes]

still go to school, i don't think it should spoil the day just build it up as usual and have a specila time after either with you or friends...and do something at the weekend so they get twice the fun

[Gobbledigook]

Eh? Is there a choice in the matter? They have to go to school surely?! I don't think it's a valid reason for absence.

[helsy]

I send dd in. She is off when she is ill.

[sparklymieow]

I send my kids in, but poor DS having his birthday 6 days before xmas always misses his friends and the huge fuss that his classmates make on his birthday because its always the holidays.

[Merlin]

DS1 birthday this year was the first day back after half term and I was ready for an argument, but off he went quite happy with sweeties for everyone, and his class all sang happy birthday to him!

Although I felt sorry for him having to go to school on his special day it would never cross my mind not to send him.

[QueenEagle]

I would never dream of not sending my kids in on their birthdays. In fact neither would my kids - they love being mentioned in registration and taking in sweets to share out with their friends. Surely this is all part of the excitement.

charliecat - I have to say it seems more about what you want for the day rather than your dds. Build up the getting home and having the pressies then and a tea party and then a bigger do at the weekend or something.

Btw how many people phone in sick and skive off when it's their birthday?

[zaphod]

I always send mine in. They open their birthday presents when they come home. I do make a special breakfast of their choice before they go though.