Happy Valentines Day Rant

Is it just me or have holidays in school become ridiculous. I know there are many people who dislike Valentine’s Day, it is a “Hallmark” holiday if there ever was one and there is no doubt it is contrived. My wife and I don’t celebrate per se. No roses for 20x the normal price, no cards, no expensive dinners. This year we are going to the Vance Joy concert here in town but we’d have gone no matter the date plus this will be Nate’s first live concert. He is excited.

Some people don’t think kids should be allowed to exchange cards in class. I don’t approve or oppose a few minutes to distribute a few cards in class. If the teacher chooses to allow the exchanges, it doesn’t need to be a big production, five or ten minutes before or after recess and back to business. I do find it infuriating that the kids who participate are expected to give a card to everyone. It renders the exercise pointless. Nate only ever talks about a handful of kids, both boys and girls he considers his friends. I know, what does that really mean when you are in grade one, who knows but they are the kids he plays with most. They are the kids he invited to his birthday party later this month.

His teacher sent a note home at the end of last week reminding the parents that there were 23 kids in the class and they were expected to include a card for everyone. She further requested that they not put names on the Valentines and included appropriate sample greetings – To My Friend / To My Pal / To My Classmate – with an additional note asking that any greeting remains gender neutral. Her reasoning, it was too cumbersome for her to make sure the right card got to the right person.

The reality is, all of these “holidays” have become ridiculous in school. I am hardly and upstanding Catholic but Nate attends a Catholic school where they refer to Halloween as orange and black day, Christmas as red and green day and Easter as pink and yellow day. Christ, no pun intended, two of those holidays are central to the Catholic faith.

Happy Valentines Day to my fellow bloggers.

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