My daughter was in 1st grade when I was called in for a conference with her teacher, a plump woman with a girly voice, one of those extremely PC people with constant “concerns” about this or that.

The teacher sat me down and showed me my kid’s drawings. She expressed “concern” that she colored her people’s faces in green and blue.

“She is six,” I said.

“Yes Mrs. Douglas, I realize that, but I distributed the flesh-colored markers to all of my students. She was supposed to use pink tones for Caucasians, darker shades for African-Americans, and dark-red shades for Native Americans. Do you see?”

“No, I don’t see. She is six and draws from her imagination. The girls with green and blue faces are mermaids. We have been reading about mermaids with her.”

“Well, I am happy she is a good reader, but the staff are concerned. Is there something going on at home? Is your daughter happy? It’s just that I have given my students specific instructions to use pink markers for… (repeat).”

We didn’t come to an agreement. The teacher seemed disappointed by my lack of cooperation and failing to agree with her, and I was irritated by the whole episode. I mean, who the hell appointed her a psychologist qualified to analyze my 6-year old’s art? It’s not like she drew demons with bloody knives. Besides, my daughter was a willful child. If she wanted to use blue and green markers, she couldn’t care less about the flesh-colored variety.

My daughter is now 14 and gets straight A’s in Art disciplines. She still likes to work from her imagination and uses “unconventional” color combinations to express emotion.