Again, do you think those stats are talking about step parent households?
What? I don’t understand your question?
I’m saying that there’s a difference between maintaining a romantic connection with your partner who you share a kid with while you’re doing the difficult job of parenting (which is challenging but important to do); versus trying to build and nurture a brand new romantic connection with someone who isn’t parenting.
The op never even said anything about divorce or co-parenting or an ex-wife changing diapers. Maybe the mother died.
Absolutely. I am a product of one. Indeed…three “dads.” (0 and 5 and then 11) The third was a stand-up guy and I am far better off for having known him (in fact, today is the 19th anniversary of his death…natural causes…I wish I had told him how much he mattered). Anecdotal, I know.
It is up to the parent of the child to find a good partner. Everyone will be better for it if a good choice is made. Of course, not all people make good choices. That’s another discussion. But there is nothing inherently wrong with dating while you have a young child to care for.
Then he definitely has better shit to do than date; and since there’s no one else to go to the kid’s graduation, the girlfriend is absolutely a raging asshole for asking him to ditch it.
Well that explains all his extreme views.
Well. You don’t go on to kindergarten if you don’t graduate pre-k.
Gotta start getting that masters degree earlier these days.
If a grown ass college + educated woman doesn’t understand you going to your kids special day they aren’t gonna be a good step-parent. Lose 'em now, rather than later.
God, I hope she’s mastered in early education.
This is total fucking nonsense.
First, pre-K. Is basically daycare. It’s not necessary, it is not required to enter into kindergarten.
Secondly, special day? "Graduating from day care is a special day? It isn’t. Like I said it’s daycare. They have to achieve nothing while going there. All they have to do is attend.
Getting a master’s degree is a life-changing event. Way more significant.
At this point I feel like the naysayers are just virtue signaling:
“Look how much more I love my child than you love yours”
Ridiculous!
No. Pre-k is required in our school system. And there are skill sets that are required to move up. This is why people often put delayed children in at 3. So they have an extra year to master these skills.
Day care is not the same.
No diapers in Pre-k.
I have twin grandsons who just moved up from Pre-k. They go to regular K next fall.
Pre-K is not required. Name the state you think it is.
It is in our school system.
I can’t speak for the whole state or world.
Name the state!
Arkansas.
We’re in a special school district in this county.
Arkansas does not require pre k. Google it.
Can you imagine the state where your child’s education stops if they do not graduate from pre-K?
If there were such a place I would argue it is a more important event than any other graduation for the rest of their life (considering there can be no more education if they do not graduate pre-K).
Then yes, you should go. Because it’s important to be present for your kid. And i attended a lot of tedious concerts and whatnot because my kid was in them. Hell, i attended my daughter’s “graduation” from a summer gymnastics program. (Which was actually a lot less tedious than the concerts.)
I’m sticking firmly with my answer of “it depends”. Because it doesn’t matter to every kid. And the graduation ceremony from a Masters program doesn’t matter to every adult. (As i mentioned above, my son didn’t attend his, as best as i know, and certainly didn’t invite us.) And i don’t presume to know how the various parties feel about those events in the hypothetical presented in the op.
To those of you arguing it doesn’t matter, the kid will forget it… The kid will be affected by whether they know their parent cares about them, and prioritizes them. Like, you can throw an infant against the wall. And the kid won’t remember that you did that. But the kid will learn that your arms aren’t a safe place to be, and that will affect the adult. So we don’t throw children against the wall. We hold then securely and keep them safe. Even though babies don’t form narrative memories, yet.
A four year old might remember their pre school graduation when they grow up. They might not. But it doesn’t matter. It does matter that they know their parents are there for them, and care about them.
That doesn’t mean you necessarily need to go to this “graduation”. If there’s another priority in your life, you can sell that to the kid. Four year olds are old enough to understand that there are other priorities. But if you do that, you should include the kid in that other priority. Because you don’t want your child to be the only one at some event whose parents aren’t there for them. And also, this takes planning. You can’t just decide at the last minute to ditch your child’s event. You absolutely need to explain, well in advance, what the child should expect, and why this masters graduation matters. (If it even does.)
My kid’s summer gymnastics program wasn’t necessary for anything. It wasn’t even daycare, it was a couple hours a week. But they did a big graduation ceremony where all the kids showed off what they’d learned and got a participation medal. And every child there was accompanied by parents. And a child who was there without parents would have felt really abandoned.
This past weekend I attended a young kids’ dance recital. It was done on a better scale than prior ones: outdoors with the audience sitting on the grass; no tickets; basic dance attire instead of expensive costumes; no downtime between dances; 1 hour long. Still, maybe a quarter of the dancers knew their routine, and at least as many had ZERO clue. Nevertheless, some parents were giving these little kids full bouquets! 
I mention this, just to support my belief that a pre-K (or K) graduation ceremony is just stupid. Yet another element of how we excessively celebrate our kids for things that aren’t even achievements.