Whether it’s Muffins With Mom, Donuts With Dad or Grandparents Day, for kids living in homes that fall outside the traditional heterosexual, biological female-male-parent arrangement, school activities can feel isolating.
So when Yevette Vasquez, a single mom living in Fort Worth with her three boys, took her son Elijah to school last week and found out it was Donuts With Dad Day, she had an inspired idea. She offered to dress up like Elijah’s father—and her son was all about it.
Vasquez told BuzzFeed, “I thought for sure he would be embarrassed or ashamed, but he wanted to go all the way,” Vasquez said. “He said, ‘That would be a great idea, we still have 10 minutes before it starts. Wanna go home and change?'”
They returned home, and Vasquez put on a baseball hat and fake mustache. Then she and Elijah went back to school and ate donuts with the other students and their dads.
Vasquez posted about the incident on Facebook, writing, “I know seeing other dads with there kids isn’t easy for mine but it’s life, at least I can do whatever it takes to put a smile on that face, so here it goes…”
The post has over 18,000 likes and 6,000 shares with people calling her “the world’s best mom.”
This story is SO RAD!!! This mama is a PROBLEM SOLVER! https://t.co/88ImL7W18M
— Dani Johnson (@danijohnsonlive) September 8, 2016
“I’ve seen a lot of parents saying they should take this day away, but that’s fighting fire with fire,” Vasquez told BuzzFeed. “Instead of getting rid of Donuts with Dads, they should also make a day for kids missing one or both parents, so they can meet up and bond over it. That’s what I hope comes from this.”
The day was such a hit, Vasquez told BuzzFeed that her two younger sons have asked her to do the same for them.