I was called a 'piece of crap' because I let my kids take their 'homemade' Valentines into school

This post is more about 'Call me a piece of shit' and less about Valentine's Day, but I'll call it as it is.<br><br>We had a total of 64 valentines to make, (counting my 2 kinds).<br><br>At 7:30 am yesterday, I made 64 Valentines. <br><br>We gave them out and got 1 unresolved 'call me a piece of shit' out of it.<br><br>Here is more info.<br><br>As a parent, I understand that it is my job to do 'work' for my children. I've never been a parent that keeps their kids away from chores, and I don't want to create a sense of entitlement.<br><br>To that end, I have always made my kids do their own work. Schoolwork, Housework, etc, etc.<br><br>I have never done their work for them. To me, that is a parenting fail, and when your kid gets to 3rd, 4th, 5th grade, you are actually crippling them. As they get older, the amount of work and responsibility they have increases, and it is up to them to learn how to handle it.<br><br>The point is, that if my kids have an event at school, that is going to require 'work', they have to do it.<br><br>In this case, we had 64 children that they each needed to make a valentine for. It's not hard, but it is at least an hours worth of work.<br><br>Well, I'm a single parent. So not only do I have to work a full-time job, I also have to take care of my household and my kids.<br><br>I had other things to do, so I told them they could either a) make 64 Valentines or b) Tell me the names of < 64 people they want to make Valentines for.<br><br>They took option A.<br><br>Well, my youngest was sick and stayed home from school on the 13th. We were busy that day and so on the 14th, at 7:15 am, I told him he had to get his Valentine's done.<br><br>He asked for help and I said no.<br><br>I made 64 Valentine's in 45 minutes. We took them to school.<br><br>I ended up on r/rant with maddening effectiveness from the woman who has a problem with how we handle Valentine's at school.<br><br>She wrote - 'I see this as 100% a parent fail. The mom admitted she made the Valentines. In 45 minutes. Because making Valentines for each child in your son’s class is too much work.'<br><br>Edit: I wrote this at 3 am and just woke up. I'm going to give you the whole story.<br><br>I gave my son the choice to make cards for everyone or make less and give only to his friends. I told him it was up to him. he chose to make some for everyone.<br><br>I was asked by a commentor if I had asked him if he would be embarrassed to not give one to everyone. I did ask and he looked at me like I was crazy for asking. 'No mom, I know it's hard. But I can handle it.'<br><br>I made the cards in under an hour. My son had no problem with it. His Father saw what I did and was 100% in support of it.<br><br>My son is an exceptional child. He is 3rd in his class and has been selected for the gifted program. He is very intelligent and has been doing school work since he was 4. He spends much of his 'free' time reading (all the Harry Potter books at 8 years old), and doing extra schoolwork.<br><br>I sent the cards to school and got a text from a parent saying 'OMG! These are so cute! Did you make them?' I truthfully answered 'Yes, I did.' and that was that.<br><br>Until she went on Reddit. <br><br>I got a notification that someone had 'mentioned' me on Reddit.<br><br>I went to that post and read through the comments calling me a 'piece of shit' and a 'shitty parent' and all sorts of unkind things.<br><br>I was absolutely floored that people reacted the way they did. I asked how to put a post on Chambers and 3 people showed me how.<br><br>I posted my side of the story and got called a liar and a 'bad mom' by a small margin of people.<br><br>Mostly, people call me a good mom and some people liked our Valentine's.<br><br>As an aside, I asked my son if he was embarrassed that I made the cards and he said 'no'. He said it would be embarrassing if he didn't give anyone any. He said that he was happy I made them and to 'please make them next year too.'<br><br>He then asked 'Can I look at the post?' I said of course, you can.<br><br>I pulled it up and read through all the comments. He did not have a reaction to any of them.<br><br>To be clear, I asked him if he was embarrassed that I made the cards instead of him, and he said no. I asked him if he was embarrassed that I didn't make him make the cards, and he said no. Then I asked him to read through the comments. He did and he just shrugged.<br><br>The whole thing is 'much to do about nothing'.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit 2 - I understand that this is for DHM. As a single parent who does it all, I do what I can to ensure my kids are successful. <br><br>I'm glad so many of you agree with me on this.