What a fun way to decorate a wall or area lacking windows... would make a great art project for Spring or parents day.
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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.
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?
Today, mothers across the country will be treated to family brunches, bouquets of flowers, and, of course, gifts. A nice day, to be sure, but the historical journey behind the holiday has been a long one. Back in 1870, Julia Ward Howe — after bearing witness to the damage of the Civil War — penned the Mother’s Day Proclamation, as a call to mothers to rally for peace. In it, Howe wrote, “Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn / All that we have been able to teach them of / charity, mercy and patience.” While Howe planted a seed, it wasn’t until decades later that the idea came to reality. Anna Jarvis vowed to create a day of recognition when her mother passed away in 1905. Her efforts picked up in 1908, and in 1912, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution declaring Mother’s Day the second Sunday in May. Times have changed since then, of course, but sentiment behind the holiday remains. We’ll surely be talking about mothers on cable news today, and reading 140-character thoughts online — and, for a change, it won’t be because of a snarky comment from a politician or outrage over a “war on stay-at-home moms.” Happy Mother’s Day!