The post where stabbing myself in the eye with a sharp stick begins to sound fun

Way back before I became an administrator, I was a teacher of middle school students with behavior disorders. Yeah. I know. Crazy! What was I thinking? Who knew behavior disordered middle schoolers could be saner than parents? Occasionally a student would bring a book to me pointing out a *bad* word to which I would always give the same simple response.
“Thank you for pointing that out. Obviously, you are not mature enough for this book. I’ll return it to the library for you.”
At that point, the conversation was over. There was no debate. And I never had this conversation twice with the same student.
If only things could be so simple with some parents.
Today, I received a phone call from a parent who wants to have a picture book banned from the school library. The author in question is a well-known and well recognized author who writes about such themes as overcoming hardships and appreciating the differences in people.
Truly, I wanted to default to what I used to say to my obviously more mature former middle school students but I feared another a phone call from the superintendent. I tried to be understanding and just listen. Basically, it all boiled down to this…
The book made her son sad.
Yes, that’s right. There is no nudity or implied sex scenes. There are no profanities. There isn’t even a fight scene.
Dang it. I’m thinking of suggesting Old Yeller as a read aloud for her son’s class.