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Pop Culture

Mom writes note to daughter's teacher, admitting she skipped class just to see Taylor Swift

"Here’s hoping my daughter’s 1st grade teacher is a Swiftie."

taylor swift, karen vladek, autsin texas
via Makaiyla Willis/Wikimedia Commons

Taylor Swift performing in concert in 2017

People are praising Karen Vladeck, 38, a mom from Austin, Texas, who wrote a clever email notifying her daughter's teacher that she would be missing school to attend a Taylor Swift concert. However, instead of a simple letter asking for the absence to be excused, she channeled her inner Swiftie and composed a note infused with nods to the singer's music catalog.

The absence was for April 24, which coincided with the final date of Swift’s 3-night stand at Houston’s NRG stadium. Vladek sent the letter on April 4, so the teacher would have plenty of notice.

Vladek, a legal recruiter, attorney and podcaster, shared the witty email she sent to her daughter's teacher on Twitter, which received nearly 3,800 likes. “Here’s hoping my daughter’s 1st grade teacher is a Swiftie," she captioned the tweet.

She titled the email: "It's Me, Hi, I'm the Problem, It's Me,” a nod to Swift’s song “Anti-Hero.”

The email begins with “Dear Reader [Ms. Parks]," referencing another song on Swift’s “Midnights" album. It went on to include numerous Swiftisms, including “Should Have Said No,” “So It Goes…,” “Bad Blood,” “I Did Something Bad,” “The Last Time," “Cruel Summer” and “Forever & Always.”

“Dear Reader [Ms. Parks], I’m writing to let you know that Maddie won’t be in school on 4/24 because she is going to the Taylor Swift concert in Houston,” Vladeck wrote. “I hope missing school doesn’t ruin her otherwise stellar Reputation, but she begged me to go and maybe I Should Have Said No but I didn’t want to be Mean. So It Goes…Anyway, I hope this doesn’t leave any Bad Blood between you and Maddie and that things for the rest of the year are not Treacherous.

“I know I Did Something Bad and I promise this will be The Last Time she has an unexcused absence before the Cruel Summer starts. Forever & Always, -Karen Vladeck.”

Vladek’s husband, Steve, didn’t seem too thrilled about the email.

The mother could have made up a story that her daughter was sick or that there was some family emergency. But she was honest, admitting that having Taylor Swift tickets was an acceptable excuse for missing a day of school. Who’s to blame her? The Eras Tour is such a major pop culture event that the average ticket price is $700; Swift may become a billionaire when it’s all said and done.

Plus, it would have been hard for her daughter to return to school and not tell everyone on the playground that she got to see Swift.

The mother’s note got a lot of praise on social media from fellow parents and Swifties.

Some teachers said that Maddie's absence was completely acceptable.

Swift fans shared some more references she could have included in the letter.

A World Series parade is a great reason to take a day off from school, too.

The good news is that Ms. Parks was totally fine with the reason for the absence. She responded to the email, saying, “THIS MADE MY ENTIRE DAY.” Way to go, Ms. Parks.

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