Father's Day in a Two mother home....

This is such a great article that has me thinking about the stereotypical "gifts" that are often made as crafts in school.

Who here has ever received a Mother’s Day gift that did not feature flowers in some way? Who has ever received a Father’s Day gift that did not feature tools or neckties? It is in the nature of these gifts to be hopelessly generic and stereotypical.

This post talks about one family with two moms and how they approached Fathers Day recently... awesome read:

My first thought was to ask if the kid could be given a pass on Father’s Day this year, having just finished working twice as hard as the other kids for Mother’s Day, making two beautiful scrapbooked cards for his two mums. But, judging by this note, sitting out the activity was not an option. 

The teacher’s instructions to parents did note, with heartening sensitivity: “If for any reason a picture of Dad is not possible or … he is not present in your child’s life, feel free to have your child bring pictures of a favourite uncle, family friend or grandfather that they wish to make a gift for.” 

There was a time that we would have been grateful for this inclusiveness, but let’s face it, the kid is in Grade 4 now and he was in daycare from the age of 1, so we’ve been dealing with this awkward annual moment for at least eight years now. 

When our son was little, we would sit him down every spring and ask whom he would like to make a gift for – Gramps? Uncle Rod? Uncle Jim? – and then run interference with the teachers, making sure that they knew the situation and presenting a ready-made solution.

 My father has been the recipient of many Popsicle-stick masterpieces over the years, not just from the boy, but from his older sister. Frankly, Gramps already has more than enough receptacles for pens and his pennies gathering dust on his dresser. And while the boy does have other adult males in his life, we don’t necessarily have multiple pictures of them. 

More important, this whole business is starting to feel like a sham. Why should he have to come up with a fake father figure just so that he can kind of conform to what all the other kids are doing?

 

Read the rest here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/fathers-day/what-happens-on-fathers-day-in-a-two-mother-home/article12493198/