An elementary public school south of Seattle had its own run-in with this year's holiday tree controversy. The school had set up a "Giving Tree," one of those neon coiled silver-trees adorned with cut-out paper mittens, each one of which held the wish of a particular child living at one of the nearby homeless shelters.

School kids were encouraged to select a mitten, purchase a wish-gift for the homeless child, and turn the gift and mitten back into the principal's office. The gifts would be taken to the shelter and distributed a few days before Christmas.

All was well . . . until one parent called the principal complaining that this Giving Tree was obviously a Christmas tree and hence this was foisting a faith tradition upon unsuspecting children.

Trying to appease the irate parent, yet…