School Cancels Mother’s Day so Kids Without Moms Won’t Be Left Out, and Some Parents Are Pissed

A Canadian primary school is on blast this week for telling the parents of its first- and second-graders that the school had decided not to have the children celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in school this year, and now some parents are pissed that they won’t be getting popsicle-stick art from the school this year.

Parent Roy Glebe is one of the pissed-off ones, and he posted the note he received from the school on Facebook. The note says that the first and second grade teachers at the school had discussed their “core values,” and decided that “in an effort to celebrate diversity, inclusivity, and also nurture our students who are part of non-traditional families, we have decided to encourage (Mother’s and Father’s Day) celebrations to take place at home. Due to this, we will not be making gifts at school to give on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We feel each family knows the best way to celebrate with their own family.”

Honestly, that seems pretty reasonable. The school is being accused of “canceling Mother’s Day,” but the school is really just saying that families can celebrate however they want at home, but the teachers won’t be using class time to make the kids make gifts this year. If the kids still want to make or buy gifts, they can. Maybe the other parent will have to look up an art project for the kids to do, instead of relying on whatever the teachers tell the kids to make. That’s not so onerous. Just look up “Mother’s Day crafts” on Pinterest and you’ll find 500 appropriate popsicle stick art projects that are probably way better and more fun than whatever the teacher would have made.  (This handprint flower pot is cute as hell.)

Some parents are very upset and are calling this a “slap in the face” and a sign that their “traditions are being thrown away.”

“Had to post this. I think disappointed is an understatement. This will be the first year that we don’t get gifts crafted with love from our kids, and since we only have one little one now it makes it all that much worse,” Roy Glebe wrote, even though nobody is actually preventing him from getting hand-crafted gifts from his kid, his kid will just have to make the gift at home.

“I don’t understand why we, as Canadians, need to give up our traditions that have been passed through generations,” he said. “I welcome all races and ethnicities, but forcing us to give up things that are important to us as Canadians is crap. And it doesn’t even have anything to do with religion? You can’t celebrate your Mom and Dad?”

Other parents are calling it a “slap in the face” and “bullshit.”

Glebe is right, this has nothing to do with religion. It also has nothing to do with races or ethnicities, so it’s kind of weird that he’d bring that up. This is just about realizing that not all first-graders have moms, so it doesn’t necessarily make sense for them to use class time to make craft projects for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is a complicated thing for a lot of people. It’s an extremely painful day for a lot of full-grown adults who have lost their mothers, and it’s even tougher for little kids, especially if they’re sitting in the classroom watching everybody else make popsicle stick frames for the moms they all still have.

We recently covered the story of Lee Broadway, a mother of four who died suddenly last month after a severe headache turned out to be a brain aneurysm.  Her youngest kids are still asking when their mommy is coming home. I can’t imagine watching those kids in class while their classmates get excited about showing their gifts to their moms.

I can understand where the lack of the in-school craft projects might be disappointing to some parents, but it seems like it would be “well that’s a bummer” disappointing, not “this is a slap in the face and all our traditions are being ripped away from us” sort of disappointment. Especially since all the kids who get so excited about making gifts for their mothers and fathers will still be able to do that. There is still craft glue and popsicle sticks in the world. Maybe dad will just have to find them this year, instead of the teacher.

What do you think, is this a gross injustice on the part of the school, or is it no big deal? Let us know in the comments.

(Image: Facebook / Roy Glebe)