It was meant to be "something silly and fun" to make her son "smile and laugh."
One single mom from Texas decided to make sure her 12-year-old son didn't feel left out on “Donuts with Dad” day at his elementary school. Yevette Vasquez was dropping off her sixth-grade son, Elijah, at school a few years ago when she noticed "more cars in the parking lot than usual."
"I asked him, 'What's going on? Is there some event that I'm supposed to be here for?' and he tells me, 'No, don't worry. It's just Donuts With Dad.'" Vasquez told ABC News. "I told him, 'How come you didn't tell me?' and joked I could've dressed up as a man for him." Instead of laughing it off, her son actually perked and seemed to enjoy the idea. "He was like, 'Well, Mom, we got 10 minutes before the bell rings!'" Vasquez said. "When I saw how excited he was about it, I decided to follow through."
The dedicated mom took to the cause and quickly went home and changed into a plaid shirt. She also put on a baseball cap, a fake mustache, and cologne, and then went back to her son’s school. "When we walked into the library, there were a whole bunch of men, and a lot of them were cheering," Vasquez said. "Elijah was just smiling really big. It was a lot of fun, and of course, we got doughnuts."
The single mom wants other single parents to know that love is all their children need. "My three boys are my loves, and I hope I can raise them to be amazing men, fathers, and husbands, even without a father figure example for them," she said. "I know some people are saying that they shouldn’t have a specific Donuts With Dad day because kids without parents feel left out, and I do get that," she said. "But I feel they don't have to take the day away. I think it's nice the school celebrates fathers who are there for their children, and they also have a day with moms, Muffins With Mom." Dressing up as a dad was meant to be "something silly and fun" to make her son "smile and laugh," she added.
Vasquez also pointed out that she dressed as a dad because she wanted her son to have fun and not feel left out. In the past, he had to miss out on similar school activities and she didn't want her son to get hurt again. “I saw that same, sad look on his face, and I didn’t want that,” she told CNN. “I wish I would have done it sooner.” “He was really excited,” she added of his reaction. “He was shaking and said, ‘Thank you.’ I told him, ‘I did this for you so you can have fun.’”
References:
https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/single-mom-dresses-dad-attend-sons-donuts-dad/story?id=41898326
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/05/health/mom-dad-donuts-trnd/
Cover Image Source: Facebook | Yevette Vasquez
