6 Thoughts That Every Parent Has But Won’t Say Aloud
Every year, it sneaks up on you like a missed dentist appointment or an unremembered tax deadline. You’re enjoying your morning coffee when suddenly you hear:
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Book Week is a magical time when Australian schools and childcare centers ask their children to dress up as characters from their favorite books. It’s cute on the surface. It’s wholesome. It’s an event celebrating literacy and imagination.
What about parents? It’s usually a panic attack that is wrapped in fabric glue and glitter.
Book Week may not be the favourite week for every parent. It’s especially difficult when you are already trying to juggle work, family, homework, after-school activities, and other responsibilities. You can add a pandemic, lockdown, or global crisis to the mix. (Yes, we’ve all experienced that nightmare.) And you have the perfect storm for pressure and Pinterest-fueled guilt.
In the spirit of sanity and solidarity, here are the six thoughts that every parent secretly has — or yells into the abyss when Book Week comes around.
1. “What Dress-ups Do We Already Have?”
You do a mental inventory before you click ‘add to basket’ on the $39.95 “Cat in the Hat”. There’s bound to be something in your child’s dress-up box or discarded costume pieces that can be transformed into a literary character.
A superhero cape? He could be a comic-book version of Batman (there are Batman Comics, right?) It’s that old tutu. Maybe a fairy from “Peter Pan”? What about Elsa’s dress from the birthday party last year?
Bingo! You found it. It’s sparkly and it fits. And best of all, she LOVES. Yes, Frozen has books based on the movie. It counts technically. It’s good enough for a parenting victory. Let’s be honest — survival mode is a must when you only have a few hours to get something done. Elsa is back in the mix, and that’s fine.
2. “Do Movie Characters Count?”
The eternal Book Week problem. Your child wants to be Moana or Woody, or Harry Potter. What about characters that were created for the movies? You begin to search for answers: “Is there a book of Frozen?” “Does Moana come with a storybook?” “What are the books that Elsa is in?”
Spoiler alert! If you search hard enough, almost any costume can be justified as a character in a book. Toy Story? There must be a Little Golden Book. Marvel superheroes? Marvel superheroes? Even Minions now have their storybooks.
Parents everywhere ask the same question, and in the end, they permit themselves to blur lines. You can let your child be a Disney Princess if there is a single ISBN to back it up.
We know that it is a stretch. It’s Book Week and not a literary thesis.
3. “What about the Rag Bag?”
You feel a strange confidence wash over you: em data-end=”3700″ data-start=”3659″>Maybe I can make something out of this./em> After all, Charlie from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ didn’t wear a fancy outfit. You feel a strange confidence: I might be able to make something from this. Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did not wear fancy clothes. Oliver Twist also didn’t wear a fancy outfit. There’s probably a cheap costume hiding in those discarded jeans or oversized jumpers.
Would your daughter be the Paper Bag Princess? Your son could be a young magician-in-training, with a scarf on and some eyeliner in lightning bolts. Maybe.
Then reality sets in: Her best friend will not wear a potato bag when she is wearing a Wonder Woman outfit.
You quietly put the ragbag idea back in its original place and began looking elsewhere. Hey, at least you gave it a shot.
4. “What Books Does She Like?”
You flip through the bookcase in a moment filled with sweetness (and perhaps a little parental guilt). What does she like to read? This could be an opportunity to bond. This is a great way to remember the magic of stories, and the characters that you have loved over cuddles at bedtime.
You take out Where is the Green Sheep, a classic that’s cherished in your home. Your heart melts. Do you remember when she wanted to hear it every night at two years old? Even better, you memorised it.
Could she dress up as the green lamb? Imagine a green fuzzy hoodie with felt ears and a possible tail. The logistics start to creep in. You don’t own felt. You don’t have a glue gun. Where would you find a green sweatshirt?
Practicality will quickly and easily kill your beautiful idea. Return to Elsa.
5. “I Am Not A Book Week Type!”
This one is a real slap in the face. Some people are just parents. Some people have craft boxes as big as refrigerators, a hot glue gun at the ready, and costume ideas prepared since October. You know them — the parents who turn a cardboard box, with LED lights and moving jaws, into a Hungry Caterpillar outfit.
The rest of us.
We do not sew wings. We do not papier-mache hats. We don’t invest $80 in an outfit to be worn only once, then thrown into a drawer.
What do we do now? We go minimalist. We search for “easy book week no sew costumes” and pray that we can find ideas with minimal effort, but they look like they were made. The headband has mouse ears attached. Do you have a copy of Give a Mouse a Cookie as well? It’s nailed. What about a striped shirt with glasses to go along with Where is Wally? Genius.
It’s fine to admit that you’re participating. You’re participating. You’re making your child happy. It’s enough.
6. “They Will Love it Anyway.”
We remember our motivations when the guilt and stress subside.
Because they love.
They enjoy dressing up, playing a character for the day, laughing with their friends, and showing their outfits (even on a Zoom call when in lockdown). They feel special. They feel special. They get to bring to life their favorite stories, even if it’s just for a couple of hours.
It’s about more than the costume. It doesn’t matter how much you put into it. It’s not about how much effort you put in, but the joy that they feel from taking part in something imaginative and fun. Book Week may be a headache for parents, but it is often a highlight of the school year for children.
Maybe we don’t have to strive for perfection. The “Monster Under the Bed”, aka your kid under a blanket, might be enough. A homemade headband might be the winner. We’ll laugh one day about how we were stressed over a costume which ended up covered in yoghurt at morning tea.
Some Sanity-saving Ideas
Not sure what to wear? You can still have fun with these easy-to-make Book Week costumes for everyone else.
- The Crayons Quit. Dress your child in a solid color and place a cone of paper on their head. Voila! You’ve got a crayon.
- Matilda: Blue dress, red ribbon in hair, and book in hand. Done.
- Pig the Pug: White onesie with black spots (drawn in marker) and a gruff face.
- The Witch from Room on the Broom: A pointy hat with striped tights and a broom.
- Pajamas, a book: Pretend your child is the main character in Goodnight Moon (or any other bedtime story). Effortless.
Even if You Don’t, You Can Still Do It
Book Week isn’t a competition. It’s about celebrating stories, characters, and the magic of books. It’s all about celebrating the stories, characters, and magic of books. Your child will feel proud whether they wear a handmade masterpiece, a dress from the store, or “a creative interpretation” of a character in a book. That’s all that matters.
So take a deep breath. Pour yourself another cup of coffee (or wine, no judgment here). Grab the Elsa dress or tape some felt ears on a headband. You can also throw a towel around your child’s neck and call it a blanket.
Book Week will pass. Next year, you will say the same thing:
You’ll manage it, just as you do every year.
