[redwitch]

My father died when I was young. To this day, I loathe Father's Day -- it's just a reminder that he's gone. My daughter never had a father. Somewhere, there is a sperm donor but I have no idea who he is and neither does her biological mother. More than once she would come home in tears because kids in class were making father's day cards and she didn't have a daddy to make one for. I finally had had enough and went to the school and demanded they stop this practice of making cards and gifts for mother's and father's day -- they had nothing to do with school and were a cruel reminder to children who lost a parent or had never had a mother or a father. These are not holidays that need to be celebrated in school; people can do as they please at home but why is there a need to do this in a school? I applaud this school and wish more schools would join in this practice and more people would understand why it is the right thing to do.

Golfingnut, thank you for being so understanding and caring. If more people would try to walk in the shoes of those who have less, are different or whatever, "political correctness" would not be an issue -- it would be a natural act.

BTW -- More than once in my life I was the child who was out of place for celebrating Christmas (Middle East, Central Africa, Far East). My friends, the schools, the adults all tried to help my brother and I and our family feel welcome and let us know it was okay to be different than they. We were invited to celebrate their religion and beliefs with them; they celebrated with us when it didn't conflict with their beliefs. When did the world become so much less accepting and understanding? When did it become not okay to be different, to have different beliefs?