The final straw, she said, was “the Holiday Shop flyer that came home saying you could send a blank check with your child."
Everyone will agree that the holiday season is the most expensive time of the year. But for parents, it's even more stressful when they are sent constant requests and reminders from schools. A mother tired of this put down a hilarious post on her Facebook page, Holy Moly Motherhood. Soon, the post went viral with thousands of people liking and sharing it.
Alana Smith, a nurse anesthetist, mother of two boys, and writer, wrote what every mother must be going through Holiday season. "The elementary school PTO be like: Heeeeeeeyyy It’s November, the most expensive time of the year. So here are a few things coming up,” she wrote.
She goes on to talk about the list of fall pictures, the book fair, can donations, holiday shopping events, ice cream day, hat day, yearbooks, and the teachers’ “all about me” forms. She begins by sarcastically saying that photo background options for fall picture day are usually things like romantic Italian landscapes for first graders. She adds that the packages are too expensive and wrote, "Also, notice that your child just came in from the playground, so this yearbook photo is capturing their most 'natural state.' A mantle staple for years to come! "
She calls the Holiday shopping day a day when "a child can shop for you." "With your own money! Please send enough money so they can buy for your entire family, the dog, and themselves, because Christmas is all about giving, and letting a 7-year-old learn to budget with your blank check is always a wise decision! Ho, Ho, Ho! "
She also speaks about yearbooks and how a parent has to book them way in advance. "And, we know that you are so poor already this month, and we really love to kick you when you are down! Pay $40 today! " She concluded it with, "*This is all in good fun! I’m excited about classroom festivities again and I <3 our PTO*"
Smith lives in Birmingham and told TODAY that she wrote the Facebook post after getting simultaneous reminders about several of the aforementioned events for her sons, who are 8 and 3 years old. The final straw, she said, was “the Holiday Shop flyer that came home saying you could send a blank check with your child. I could only imagine the slime and erasers that would come home if I didn’t set a limit.”
Smith said that she wrote the whole post in a few minutes as it "kept flowing" and she is glad that people find it funny. She added that the president of the school PTO also laughed about it. “Mostly everyone knew it was a joke. There’s always a couple of Susans but it was all in good fun.”
Moreover, she said that she tries to keep her social media posts real. "Most people are in the same boat,” she said. “Motherhood is messy; it’s not the perfection you see on Instagram.”
References:
https://www.today.com/parents/parents/mom-goes-viral-expensive-time-year-rant-rcna58192
Cover Image Source: Facebook | Holy Moly Motherhood