Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

A Look Back: Marching for the Children

Monday, June 2nd, 2025

Once upon a time… Those words usually introduce a fantastical tale that includes magical creatures, an oppressed person or people, heroes, and adventures. Often, the hero sets off on a quest to free the “damsel in distress” from whatever creature or situation is causing the distress. In today’s story, however, the story is turned around. A hero begins by liberating an entire community which leads to greater oppression, adventures, and, finally, justice and equality. (Until, of course, the sequel rolls around.)

In 2004, just over 20 years ago, the first hero in our story, then-mayor Gavin Newsom, told San Francisco’s city-county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Approximately 4,000 mistreated couples took advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately, later that year, the state supreme court declared those marriages to be invalid, leading to various legal battles and, eventually, in early 2008, the state supreme court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional in the state of California, once again opening the door for LGBTQIA2+ folks to get married.

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Bringing Pride to Upstate New York

Thursday, June 1st, 2023
SUNY Cortland Badge in the Pride colors

As mentioned before, when my son started school at Cal Poly SLO, I added a Cal Poly Pride shirt to my wardrobe. I wanted to show my support for him, his school, and the LGBTQ+ community. Naturally, when my daughter started college last fall, I pulled up her school’s online college bookstore to order myself a pride shirt. Alas, it was not to be.

My daughter is a musical theatre kid through and through — so much so that she is braving the bitter cold of upstate, middle-of-nowhere New York to get a BFA in MT from a little, no-name state college that just happens to have a great musical theatre program. In fact, the entire performing arts department is just musical theatre and they pretty much have the entire Dowd Performing Arts building to themselves. She’s attending the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland in Cortland, NY.

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Dreaming a Dream

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the US, a federal holiday.  That means that the kids don’t have school so, because I don’t have to get them up and out the door, I get an extra hour of sleep while still heading off to work at the usual time.  But I worry about that.  I worry that, for most people, that is the extent of the meaning of this day off — a holiday in honor of some dead guy that did something at some point in history.  Is that enough, however, or do we, as parents, have a responsibility to our children to make it something more than that?

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Martin Luther King Jr. Versus The Snow Day

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

On the one hand, it is important to recognize the life and accomplishments of the great Martin Luther King, Jr.  On the other hand, educating our children is just about the most important task we have as a society.  So what do we do when a school district needs to make up for snow days and the only option available seems to be the reverend doctor’s holiday?

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A Parent’s New Year’s Resolutions For 2011

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

At the start of the New Year, it’s traditional for people to make sweeping statements about how they plan to improve themselves or their situation in the coming year.  I could certainly do that — I definitely need to lose weight, I’d like to yell at the kids a little less, I really ought to work more on getting my book published — but that would only benefit me or, at most, my family.  So I thought I’d take a look at the big picture and come up with some resolutions that will help kids all over.

So with that in mind, here is A Parent’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2011:

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Surprise Boy To Surprise Troops

Monday, December 27th, 2010

Did your kids make you a holiday card?  Did they perhaps make cards for their best friends too?  If they were really industrious, they might have made one for each of their classmates.  No matter what, however, if Stephen Goodman reaches his goal, your kids will look like real slackers in comparison.  His plan is to send a holiday card to members of the U.S. Military actively deployed overseas.  All of them.

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Happy Year-End-Holiday-Of-Your-Choice!

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

Whatever you celebrate this time of year, we at Safari Dad wish for the best for you.  May your wishes be joyous, your loved ones close, and your gifts as plentiful as they are meaningful.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

Kids’ Christmas Shopping

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Many years ago, before I had kids of my own, I used to take my niece, then about 6 or 7 years old, Christmas shopping.  I gave her a modest budget and let her pick out gifts for her brother, her parents and grandparents, and my wife.  We’d get half a dozen presents and spend about twenty dollars or so.  Fast forward about ten years and she’s quite capable of doing her own holiday shopping.

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Teaching Children The Reason For The Season

Friday, December 10th, 2010

As we gather with friends, exchanging gifts and good tidings, sharing a communal meal, and basking in the warm comfort of holiday lights and decorations, it’s important to make sure that kids understand the “reason for the season.”  If you’re not sure how to best explain it to your kids, there is help available.

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Should Toy Donation Programs Censor Toys?

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

When I was growing up, toy guns were strictly forbidden in our house and we were not even supposed to play with them elsewhere.  While I didn’t like that policy as a kid, now that I am a parent myself, I have the same rule in place for my children.  I don’t think guns are an appropriate toy for kids to play with and I don’t think I’m alone.  So what sort of donated toys do you suppose the Salvation Army destroys rather than see end up in the hands of children?

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