Bernard came home from Tumble Tots with a sponsor form for the Big Sing. He can’t even SAY sponsor form, and already he is being asked to raise money for a charity he knows nothing about. He is two and a half years old, and has trouble empathising with the cat when he pulls her tail; I know he’s a bright boy but I rather think this event is lost on him, and indeed on all the other toddlers who went home with sponsor forms last week.
So basically, Tumble Tots is asking the parents to raise money. And frankly, I’m too old to be going round my family with a sponsor form. And he is too young. I have adopted the position that when he can come to me and explain what he is doing to raise money, and who he is raising it for, and why they need it, then I will sponsor him. We already pay fees to Tumble Tots; if they want to pass a portion of that to charity, then I will be impressed by their efforts at social responsibility. But they’re not using my son to do their greenwash for them.
Alice texted (of course) to say if we sponsor Bernard, will you sponsor Stan?
Sometimes I feel like I sprout another head every time I speak to her.
I quite agree – I put the forms in the bin too
It gets worse once they get to school. I refuse on principle to do sponsorship forms for school (although I occasionally just stick a quid down on the form from us if it involves doing something in front of peers just so they don’t get left out) – mainly because we have no family nearby and everyone else already has children at the school. The worse are those that offer “prizes” for the child who raises the most – it’s completely unethical.