Dads can’t sign their son’s school reading logs.
In the news today there is tons of talk about equal rights for women but nobody ever mentions equal rights for dads. This true story with my son and his school absolutely blew me away.
Every Friday, my son has to turn in a reading log showing what books he read during the week and how long he read them. These reading logs are then signed by a parent before they are turned in.
Last Thursday night, my wife was out of town so I told my son I could sign his reading log. He was very hesitant to give me the log but I quickly looked it over, signed it with his pencil, and told him to turn in in the next day.
Monday morning my son presented his reading log to my wife to sign with my signature erased.
It turns out his teacher had rejected his reading log and told him to go have his mom sign it instead. Her exact statement was “Only moms can sign it!”
I was absolutely flabbergasted!!! Why in the world can’t a dad sign his son’s reading log? Not only that, his teacher made him feel like it was wrong for him to have me sign it and made him “correct” it.
I would like to state that this was a strange isolated incident but I put this in the same class as the comments like, “Is your wife gone so you are babysitting?” or when I show up for a kids school event in the middle of the day “Don’t you work?”. Dads just are not perceived as being anything other than financial providers for their families.
Dads are so much more. Yes. Men and women often approach things differently but that doesn’t mean one way is wrong and one is right. I can cook a meal as well as my wife. I can support my kids at a school event. I can keep my kids my getting lost in public places. I even can calm my daughter when she cries. Dads are an important part of the family and we need to not forget it.