Letters: How stressed moms with schoolchildren can relax and help their kids
Regarding 'Sunday is Mother's Day. The rest of May is pure hell for moms like me' (Opinion, SFChronicle.com, May 10): I read Sara Libby's column with one eyebrow raised as the parent of a second-grader at a school that receives federal funding for low-income students and has no PTA.
One of the things I most appreciate about being part of a socioeconomically diverse school community is that I am not subjected to the expectations that surround upper-middle-class parenting.
My son's school celebrates many of the May rituals that Libby mentions (spirit week, teacher appreciation), but it feels relaxed. There is an understanding that many families have larger concerns, and we show up for our kids when we can.
This year, I worked on the fifth-grade yearbook, but I skipped teacher appreciation and left spirit week up to my kid. I put boundaries around commitments because I know that my child will benefit more from having a relaxed mom than from winning the costume contest.
I encourage Libby and other highly involved mothers to set similar boundaries to create a culture that is more livable and more inclusive. So, please skip the school camping trip and use your newfound free time to advocate for fully staffed public schools.
Lizzy Brooks, San Francisco
Building codes serve purpose
Regarding 'Despite good experience, S.F.'s building department is still problem-plagued. Here's a fix' (Letters to the Editor, SFChronicle.com, May 9): Letter writer's Stan Barnett's well-intended suggestion that San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie 'create a task force' to reduce the city's building codes is misplaced. Likewise is his view of 'decades of lawmakers layering on requirement after requirement.'
The California Building Standards Commission oversees changes in state codes. But changes are only made for good reasons and without decreasing safety, not simply to cut back the code.
That said, as a practicing architect for almost 40 years, also involved in national model code development for the past 15 years, I fully support reducing the size of building codes.
Brainstorming in the building community is happening informally, but it's not an easy task, and there are few, if any, 'obsolete codes' as Barnett suggests.
In the meantime, San Francisco can streamline the planning and permitting approval processes, though that is tied to staff size, which is tied to the city's budget and competing priorities.
Martin Hammer, Berkeley
Provide context
Regarding 'Kennedy Center director blasts 'Les Miz' cast as 'vapid and intolerant' over Trump boycott' (Arts & Entertainment, SFChronicle.com, May 8): The story twice cites President Donald Trump's appointed ideologue, Kennedy Center Director Richard Grenell, insisting that boycotting the center is an attack on its patrons.
This is from the man who axed the entire leadership of the Kennedy Center, then canceled programs that don't adhere to the anti-gay, racist, anti-history, anti-immigrant, anti-human rights and anti-dissent agenda of the imperator in chief.
Though many recognize the hypocrisy of this phony self-righteousness, there is another level. The distortion of language, creating fake victimization, exemplifies how fascism gains adherents in the working class. Grenell uses rightist 'cancel culture' ideology, a fascist idea.
Attacking those who boycott against racist, cruel and inhuman agendas, whether here or over the Israel-Gaza conflict, turns the meaning of language upside down.
Journalists have a responsibility to go beyond highlighting the disinformation. Show us how language is distorted to attack our rights and, in this case, our national culture.
Marc Sapir, Berkeley
Fund the arts
The Trump administration does not feel these local productions reflect American values. So, I say to these big donors, whether it be $20,000 or $40,000, this is just a drop in the bucket for you.
Support the arts. Oppose censorship.
Marla Blanchard, San Francisco
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