This Is The Most Ridiculous “Spirit Week” In The Universe
“School just informed parents we have a new full-time job.”
My daughter is four years old and has one “Spirit Day” a month. Guess what? I forgot about it this month! I literally cannot remember one special day at her school. How are parents supposed to put together several different costumes or silly outfits multiple times a month on top of everything else we need to do? Moms have had just about enough of over-the-top spirit weeks.
One TikTok mom, Hayley DeRoche, went viral for her hilarious and simple video where she reads off her kid’s spirit week itinerary, slowly getting more and more annoyed and joking that her kid’s school has just “informed parents” that they have a “new full-time job.”
DeRoche then lists of several different descriptions for her kid’s spirit week ranging from kind of reasonable to totally ridiculous, and they all revolve around a certain type of “Reading Day.”
“Wednesday, November 29th: wear your favorite sunglasses for our preview day and ribbon cutting,” she begins. “Thursday, November 30th: dress up like your favorite book character to show off our dearest book character.”
“Friday, December first: it's an animal day to dress like your favorite creature to explore more of our animal and other nonfiction books at the Book Fair. Monday, December 4th: wear your favorite hat for our ‘Hats Off To Reading Day.’”
She continues, “Tuesday, December 5th: wear your yellow shirt to celebrate our ‘sunshiney’ reading day. Wednesday, December 6th: wear your red shirt to celebrate our terrific reading day. Thursday, December 7th: put on your crazy sock for our divergent manifold opportunities reading day. Friday, December 8th: come with your wacky tacky costume for our crazy fun reading day. Monday December 11th: dress with your ugly sweater or holiday costume for our pre-holiday reading fun day.”
Oh. My. God.
It’s actually hard to tell if it’s exaggerated, scripted, or totally real — which helps make her point. But it seems to be real, and so many parents related with her dead-pan reading of the “full-time job” that parents now have to take on with all this extra crap.
One teacher weighed in and wrote, “Teacher here — These weeks are such a slog bc the clothing is such a distraction. Plus, what about kids who don’t have the resources to participate?”
Another said, “Why does school have to be a months long cosplay for my kids? I’m tired boss. 😭.”
The OP replied, “I know it’s supposed to boost attendance but if every day is something, every day is the same, just like before.”
Another mom wrote, “The rage I would feel 😳.”
“I am untethered and my rage knows no bounds,” the OP wrote back.
One TikTok user noted that she thinks this kind of spirit week sounds great.
“I’m sorry but THESE SOUND GREAT! What wonderful and fun ways to celebrate reading! I bet especially the littles are loving it!” they wrote.
One user questioned the seriousness of DeRoche’s post, since much of her content is dripping with sarcasm.
“Wait I thought you were doing another one where you make fun of these and then I saw the handout 😂,” the user wrote.
“Satire only works when the source material is equally unhinged,” she joked.
Schools: please save parents from spirit weeks!
