Talking Ted
In their very young primary school years, my kids' class had a toy bear that would be sent home with a lucky bairn. "Talking Ted" had a diary where said kid could detail what they did with their weekend.

It all started innocently enough: a stick drawing and "we goed to teh swings". But then the pushy parents got in on the act.

First of all, Talking Ted stopped watching *any* telly. Instead he went for lots of bike rides. His writing dramatically improved, he started typing and he covered several pages with his accounts. He stopped drawing with crayon and then indulged in long photo essays. Ted started doing lots of arts and crafts, going to Italian lessons and planting lollo rosso in the family's organic vegetable patch. He took up the cello, ballet, rugby and improvisational theatre.

Someone had to draw a line in the sand. When he came to our house, he went to see Hibs play. He had a pie.
( calgacus Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae, Mon 14 Sep 2009, 14:40, 8 replies)

HA!!!
This is bloody FANTASTIC!!! Clicks all round, mate.
( SpankyHanky, Mon 14 Sep 2009, 16:51, closed)

Haha...
Sounds like something my parents would do, and good on you for it.

*click*
(BelladonnaAnodyne Melissa's gonna wet herself, I swear..., Mon 14 Sep 2009, 19:49, closed)

Beaver Scouts
I'm a Beaver Scout (6/7 year olds) leader, with two groups, one in a posh southern commuter town, one in a large northen city.

Both groups have a teddy that is given to a beaver to take home each week. With the northern ones it is always a case of will the teddy come back next week, and will it be intact and reasonably clean. With the southern ones we have a ring binder for details of what the teddy has been upto that week.

If you look back through the binder you can see the development from simple handwritten notes, to notes with a photo/drawing stuck on, to typed notes with photos from digital cameras, and then one of the parents typed in multicolour after that the increase in design effort has grown exponentially, we are now up to the sort of quality desktop publishing you find on takeaway menus, I have no idea how they will try and beat each other now.
( AS, Mon 14 Sep 2009, 22:41, closed)

The evolution of madness
That's it exactly. You can trace how the frenzy builds with its own hellish madness.
( calgacus Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae, Tue 15 Sep 2009, 12:56, closed)

"we goed to teh swings"
Hahahaha. Also "He had a pie." I want to be this kind of parent
(Mr._F is not actually a man- this username is a lie!, Tue 15 Sep 2009, 7:40, closed)

That is magic *clicky*
What I'd give to see an SPL game with a scotch pie. Lucky bear.
( djtrialprice, Tue 15 Sep 2009, 10:04, closed)

I'd go for the steak pies at Easter Road
Soaks up the pre-match pints of Deuchars so much better.
( calgacus Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae, Tue 15 Sep 2009, 12:57, closed)

*drools*
Deuchars is my favourite pint bar none.
( djtrialprice, Tue 15 Sep 2009, 13:16, closed)