Valentine’s Day cards in kindergarten are now controversial – on Fox & Friends. The controversy began when a bleeding heart kindergarten teacher asked parents to assure that their (5-yr-old) child “bring the same generic card for everyone in the class, that way there will be no Charlie Browns.” You may remember celebrating Valentine’s Day in a similar fashion in grade school. I hope it didn’t have the deleterious effect on you that a Fox guest predicts!
From the opposition: “You can’t teach children about disappointment early enough!” says Guest Elizabeth Esther, who continued,”they should not be shielded from the harsh realities of life!” Esther is self-described parenting expert, blogger and author.
The cold-hearted ‘expert’ is oddly passionate on this topic, adding: “Valentine’s Day is about expressing your unique heartfelt feelings for your special loved one.” She added that she gets only one valentine – from her husband, not hundreds from every acquaintance. Bravo! Children should always be held to adult standards, although most 5-year-olds aren’t married, only engaged.
Esther raved on, but soon her motives became clearer. Apparently “parenting expert” is a synonym for ‘helicopter parent,’ in her world, and FOX has vetted their experts in the usual way. The woman who would doom all small children to disappointment and heartbreak, does so because “My twins are in Kindergarten, they don’t even WANT to give cards to the icky boys” “They want to give cards to a couple of girl friends. If they had to bring in generic impersonal valentines, it would completely ruin the feeling for them. They want to decorate and personalize the cards.” Keep in mind, that at five, printing one’s name is an accomplishment. Suddenly I feel that we are no longer discussing 5-year-olds, but have moved along to a 35-year-old who’d better get more than a card this year.
Hesselbeck eventually asks Jessica Gottlieb, another parenting expert, what she thinks. Gottlieb – a rebel, believes ” feeling good isn’t bad.” She contradicts the ‘feeling’ lady, saying: ” Believe me, they (children) do experience rejection day in and day out, so why not include them in getting a Valentine?” What a chocolate-covered,commie marshmallow this woman is- a marshmallow with a point! She’s about to score another. As for the “I get only one Valentine” argument, Gottlieb countered with the cupcake conundrum. “When it’s your child’s birthday, does a mother bring enough for the class, or just for her child’s six special friends?” Knowing Ms.Esther as we do, she might well bring six flamboyantly decorated cupcakes, but on the whole the point was made, for those who have ears to hear, and imaginations to make the leap from Valentines for all, to crazy notions like health care, food stamps and other entitlements shared with those who aren’t friends of Ms Esther’s twins.