Believe it or not.....my 2 youngest girls have NEVER experienced a White Christmas. Unusual for here in Indiana. Yeah....in the last 8 years we've had a little bit of snow on the ground....but by the time Christmas rolled around the snow wasn't really white anymore.
They kept on saying we'd get some snow....but it's just like when they predict rain.....everybody north and south gets it...and well....we usually get nuthin'.
BUT......last night Winter Storm Warnings were put out...and the projected snowfall for our area (Souther Indiana) was 15 to 20 inches of snow. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" />
I couldn't sleep last night and I kept looking out the window.....but no snow. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="images/icons/mad.gif" />
I finally went to bed at around 2 a.m. and I woke up at around 7 a.m. and low and behold.....it's a Winter Wonderland out there. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />
My kids are so excited!
There must be about 4 inches of snow already and it's still coming down in a curtain you can barely see through.
Now...here is the best part:
Our 8 year old (in 2nd grade) has a little girl in her class that is going around telling all the other children that there is no Santa. When asked why she is telling other children this, she told the teacher that her parents told her to inform the other kids that he's not real. When the teacher approached the parents they told her that it was against their religion to celebrate Christmas.
NOW.....I have NOTHING against ANYONES religion.....but just because it's THEIR religion doesn't mean that they have the right to ruin it for children that DO celebrate Christmas. I also don't condone them using their daughter as a tool to "inform" the other children that there is no Santa.
This had several parents, other than me very upset so we set up a conference with the teacher and the little girls parents....no children present.
Now...to let you in on something. This subject is very important to me because our oldest daughter who is now 14 had the same thing happen to her in the 3rd grade. That's when she stopped "believing" in Santa.
Also in that time frame the school quit having "holiday" parties of any kind. They aren't even allowed to decorate for them.
I was quite a bit younger back then and didn't speak up about any of this. Just sat back and thought that there was nothing I could do about it. I sure wasn't happy about any of it though.
Anyway......back to the meeting.
Everyone was there on time..the teacher and 3 sets of parents, not including me..except this little girls parents. They were a half hour late. Provided no excuse as to why they were late and acted like we were wasting their time.
The teacher started by explaining the concerns that other parents had about the fact that they are encouraging their daughter to tell other children that there was no Santa. Their only answer was that they don't celebrate the Holiday as they don't celebrate ANY Holidays or Birthdays and they were entitled to that, which is fine with me....to each their own. Their child is NOT forced to celebrate ANY Holidays at school since they aren't even allowed to decorate for them anymore.
For some reason they felt that their child was being forced to celebrate something that was against her religion and instead of talking to the teacher about it, they decided that it was their duty to have their child tell everyone that it was a FAKE Holiday. YUP...they called it FAKE.
I couldn't keep my mouth shut at that point. Everyone knows I have a hard time under normal circumstances with keeping my mouth shut....but this really got me going.
I asked them what gave them the right to ruin something that my daughter believed in....their answer....their religion.
I asked them what gave them the right to solicite their religion to my child...their answer...their religion. Forgot to add earlier that they have sent pamphlets to school with their daughter to pass around to her classmates. She handed them out at recess when there were no teachers around. They've been asked numerous times not to do this.
I asked them if they realized that their daughter is now singled out in the class by the children as being "different" and their answer amazed me. They said....she is different. She IS better than all of them in a way. She is more mature in that she doesn't believe in something that is FAKE.
I threw up my hands at that point and admitted defeat. I wasn't going to argue about who was better than who.....so I told everyone that in my opinion the meeting was over for me.
I walked over to get my coat and the teacher asked if anyone would like to add anything.....and again.....my mouth started moving before my brain could catch up with it.
I said.....yes...as a matter of fact....I would like to add something.
I said......I've had at least one child in this school for the last 8 years. In all those years I have NEVER had another parent tell me that they thought their child was "better" than mine. At 8 years old they aren't supposed to be "mature"...they are supposed to be KIDS.
They are supposed to believe in silly little things that we adults no longer believe in. They are supposed to stomp in every puddle they find even if we tell them not to. They are supposed to behave like heathens from time to time just because they want to and make a mess everywhere they go.....that's part of being a kid.
YOU are entitled to your opinion and your religion....but you are NOT entitled to ruin something that MY child believes in just because YOU do not.
My kids are very well behaved for the most part and they have respect for others....but they are NO BETTER than any other child in this school...and they know this.
I walked out of the room and went home.
Here's the really good part.....sorry.....I went on and on.....but this whole thing really had me going........
Our daughters decided that this year they were going to sit on Santas lap and tell him what they wanted. They NEVER sat on Santas lap before....not sure why....but we've never forced them too.
Anyway.....before it was their turn I told them how they could tell Santa what they wanted but that they had to remember that it was only to give Santa and IDEA of what they wanted.
This was last night.
When we woke up this morning and saw all the snow our middle daughter (the 8 year old) had a HUGE smile and said.....HE'S REAL....HE'S REALLY REAL!!!!
I asked her what she was talking about and she said that last night she asked Santa for snow for Christams because there hasn't been any in all her Christmases.
So there ya go folks......if I hadn't already been a believer....I would be now.
BTW......we didn't know that we were getting snow before we saw Santa last night since we don't watch alot of TV. Besides.....it was almost 50 degrees here yesterday....who would have thought it would be snowing the next day. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />
