Mom furious toddler's nursery renamed Father's Day to 'Special's Day', asks 'men don't matter'
An angry mother is calling out her three-year-old daughter's nursery for teaching her that "men don't matter" after they decided to rename Father's Day as 'Special's Day'. Karla Gardner's three-year-old daughter Daisy Odametey returned home with a handmade collage ahead of Father's Day on Sunday, June 20, 2021. That's when her mother found out what the school had done and accused the nursery of teaching kids that "men don't matter".
She added that her heart sank when her daughter Daisy returned with the card. The 36-year-old mother saw her daughter's painting of her dad, Ed Odametey and even praised her for the art, but was reportedly secretly furious by the "bizarre" change. There have been other parents who have called out things that they feel are taking away their children's freedom. In January, last year, another mother demanded an apology from the pub that told her to "control her kids or leave", later in June last year, a couple warned other parents about letting kids nap in the car seat on the floor. In June this year, Vanessa Boyd, a mom shared how a TikTok trend led her boy, 14, to choke and die.
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The stay-at-home mother took to a Facebook group to share the situation with an image of the collage and even gathered a lot of attention for it - reportedly getting over 700 comments in the first half an hour. The picture, however, was taken down admin on the group because it caused too much controversy.
'Men don't matter'
Karla, who is from London, reportedly said, "When I read 'Happy Special's Day' it angered me. I loved to see the picture and was smiling, but when [Daisy] wasn't looking, it angered me. "
"Her dad's in her life. I don't want her being taught that Daddy isn't as important as me. Father's Day was just brushed aside. I get that not everyone has their dad in their life, but my child does. You're singling out those who have fathers in their life," Karla said as per reports.
"I find it bizarre that all of a sudden men don't matter." She added that she "was told [by the nursery] that it was not fair for children without dads to make Father's Day cards. Last year she did a Father's Day card, what's new this year?"
"For Mother's Day, I got a card which had photos of her inside it and it said clearly on it 'Happy Mother's Day'. A big fuss was made of it. As a three-year-old, I might think 'why is it wrong to have a dad in my life? Why's it not being recognized?'"
"You're belittling the man. He's doing just as much of a job as the woman does."
Difference between Father's and Mother's Day
Karla then decided to do some digging into the two days. "I did a bit of research on where Mother's Day and Father's Day originated from."
"Mother's Day was invented in 1917 by a women's group to promote women's rights, while Father's Day was invented in 1910 to recognize a man who raised his five children as a single father." she added. "I come from a family where I'm fortunate to have my mum and dad. My siblings are all still married. Not all children don't have their dad. Some of those children whose dad doesn't live with them, they still have a relationship with them. I know people who make Father's Day cards and give it to their granddad or uncle. This is just shutting them out," she said.
Karla says she now has plans with her daughter to re-celebrate the day. "We'll be making another card. We will do one for grandad as well." Karla didn't expect the attention her Facebook post received. "I didn't expect it to get that bizarre."
"I got a lot of people putting comments saying 'just do your own cards at home', but this is something they've done at school on their own. It's a little bit more special. There were over 700 comments within the first half an hour. Admin had to turn off comments."
She also said that "there were a lot of mixed comments". "Some comments were about a lot of children not living with their dad and maybe don't want to be reminded of Father's Day, but a lot of children don't live with their mother. Ed's seen the card and he's relaxed. He said 'it's cool with me because mother's do more'. I had a debate with him arguing his case. He said 'she's made me a picture and that's good enough'."