EDITOR;
Entitlement and wanting more — this appears to be the theme of your writer of Jan. 4, 2012.
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and this writer was in school, the only time I was entitled to two weeks at Christmas break was when the 25th fell on a Wednesday.
Other than that, I would get the full week between Christmas and New Year and a day or two in front of and after each event. Somewhere along the way, our children have become entitled to two full weeks of holidays every year.
Unlike our children and their educators, most of us are not entitled to 12 weeks vacation per year. Therefore, we have to use our two, three or four weeks retreat wisely.
If we choose not to take extra time at Christmas, we need to make the best of the time that we do get.
My employer is very generous with statutory holidays. Unfortunately, if one lands on a weekend, it stays on a weekend. I am still paid for it, but I get no extra time off work. Since I did not choose to take any of my personal vacation time at Christmas, I got two extra days besides the weekends over the holidays.
Every other statutory holiday during the year always falls on a Monday or a Friday. Last year I was able to enjoy every one of those at home, as a long weekend with my family, along with getting paid for the day.
I too think our children should have stayed home on Jan. 2. However, this was not the case, so we sent our son to school. I also believe that they should have been in school until the Dec. 21 and not off on the 16th. Help me understand why they needed a full week off before Christmas Day. Is that part of the entitlement?
Let’s not teach our children that they are entitled to “have their cake and eat it too,” and by the way, better throw a cherry on top of it to boot!

ANDY PUSKAS
Taber