Ellerbee says that parents should, "Keep the kids home from school, spread out some yummies and settle in to watch the peaceful transfer of power from one opposing party to another… Missing school to stay home and watch the parades and the swearing in is just as good or better than any history or civics lesson your kids might get in the classroom that day."

Man, do I disagree with that.

While I think it's terrific that Barack Obama won, I also think that life goes on. We have no idea what kind of President he will be, and even if we did, we still have to go to work (assuming we aren't one of the millions who have lost our jobs in this economy). And for our children, school is their job. If the school chooses to spend time during the day watching the Inauguration, I suppose that's fine. If you don't think that's fine, you should complain. But keeping them home for that reason is a bad idea as well. It feels too much like pouting.

Another thing – both reasons to keep your children home from school this Tuesday add to the political divisiveness that is becoming a huge problem in this country. Civil discourse is all but gone, especially online, where name-calling, race baiting and anger have taken their place. Why add to that by putting your children on one political side or the other? Admittedly, "keep the kids home to watch the Inauguration" is more positive than "keep them home because I don't want them to feel good about the incoming President." But in both cases the message is "school is less important than who won an election." And while that's true in the big picture, I'm not so sure I want to give my kids another reason to think that school isn't such a big deal.

Read more here.