Home schooled

'Please ask your child to bring a box of tissues for communal use this week', were the words staring back at AngryBritain from the brightly coloured blue letter the 6yr old brought home from school on Friday. 

'Pardon?'

Horrified we sought solace in Twitter only to find that this wasn't unusual in today's education system. Tales of requests for sanitary wipes, left-handed scissors and picking up children from remote locations after school trips due to cost of bringing them back, were all fired at me across the Twitterverse.

Funny, but I was under the impression that we pay taxes to fund our children's education. No?.

One presumes that due to the increased cost of kitchens and new sofas for MPs, there is no longer sufficient budget remaining to provide basic items to complete a school day. Are we then, just one step away from actually teaching our children ourselves?.

I'm sure many other parents, like AngryBritain, also begrudge the mounted assault upon family time in the  evenings and at weekends. 'Read this with your child' 'Make that'. 'Donate, Donate, Donate'.

Only a couple of weeks ago AngryBritain found himself creating an Easter Bunny out of recycled Diet Coke cans (which was rather good, even if I do say so myself - see pic). This took up most of the weekend, while the 6yr old played Wii and looked on nonchalantly, her part done upon handing over the letter and cutting  some string for whiskers.

As many of you will know AngryBritain is less than 4 weeks away from becoming a dad. The daily battle to and from the office means I won't see the AngryBaby before I go to work. And if I'm lucky, and the Tube behaves, I may see my child for 15 minutes before bedtime. For those in any doubt, teachers or Education Ministers reading - This is not ok.

Parents go to work, teachers teach. That's how its always been. Parents go to work to provide for their children, so they can do nice things together in the evenings and at weekends. And pay the teachers wages. Children grow up fast.

Family time is precious. Let's keep it that way.