Just Another Week

I was shocked at what I was hearing. 

The school my son attends was promoting beliefs that I, personally, find disgusting. What really got me, however, was the encouragement that students wear certain clothes to further promote those beliefs.

The good news is: It didn’t work. 

I consider myself a pretty open person. I don’t care what religion people follow, what color their skin is, who they love or if they choose to become a different gender. Where I draw the line, however, is when the school says “Go Pack Go” during announcements and asks these poor innocent children to wear green and yellow to support the Green Bay Packers.

Oh, the audacity! 

Those aren’t the beliefs we follow in my house. Both of my parents are from the below average state of Illinois and passed on the curse of rooting for the Chicago Bears. Recent events have led me to believe that curse has been passed on yet again as my son made sure there was just one team for him: Da Bears. 

He has had a number of relatives – on his mother’s side, of course — try to change him. And now, the school has encouraged beliefs that just don’t follow our family values. But it doesn’t work because I assure you that being a Chicago Bears fan isn’t a choice. (I mean, what Wisconsin resident would choose that lifestyle?)

It reminded me of when I was in sixth grade and our class was assigned to write letters of support to a Packers player. My choice was obvious: Backup quarterback and former Chicago Bear Jim McMahon. I wrote to him telling him I was a Bears fan and made sure he knew I was aware of the rivalry. Shockingly, the teacher refused to send that letter because, in her mind, saying that I would not root for the Green Bay Packers was inappropriate. 

Nonsense! 

Even as one of the girls in his class told him the Bears “suck”, my seven-year-old did not waver. He stuck with the Bears and we even listed to “Bear Down Chicago Bears” before school last Thursday, as he wore navy and orange instead of the green and yellow endorsed by the school. 

I won’t let him go into this thing blind. He knows that the Bears very rarely beat the Packers and that the team annually hibernates before the rest of the league.

But he seems to be on board. 

Why? Because that’s his dad’s favorite team. 

(Editor’s note: The above column was written in jest. But, go Bears.)