Driving today, I passed a woman walking. She was about my age, about my height but had a very different look about her. Her hair, shaved on one side (very Cindy Lauper in the "Time After Time" video) was dyed turquoise and the sides were bright pink. She wore baggy, ripped jeans. heavy eyeliner and Doc Marten's. My first thought, "Come on, Lady. You're a bit too old for that." Immediately followed by a second thought, "I wish I had the balls to do that." Then she turned around.
She was carrying two Disney Princess backpacks and holding a sippy cup. One small girl, maybe two years old, was playing in the grass in front of her while another, maybe five, was further along on the trail making her getaway. She was a Mom. That shouldn't surprise me since I live in the 'burbs. But it did. I watched as she tried to hold onto the smaller child while yelling at the second to "Stop!" And I immediately felt connected to her. Moms are moms and toddlers are toddlers. The struggle is real. But I had to wonder, how cool would it have been to have a Mom with crazy blue and pink hair?! I imagined her a much cooler Mom than me -- introducing her girl's to The Smith's and Gloria Steinem. Maybe their house is super eco-friendly and everything they eat is organic. Maybe they barely watch t.v.. Maybe I'm reaching...
Either way, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Isabel a few months ago. "There are all sorts of families." I explained. Some have one parent, some have two Mommies and no Daddy, some children live with their Grandparents, Sometimes there are two boys and no kids and some are like ours. In her eyes, I could see her processing this information, a smile on her face. Finally, she says, "That's neat." And I almost cried. For her it doesn't matter. (For all, it shouldn't, in my opinion.) For her, family means love and that can come in lots of different forms.
I want to believe I was that open minded at age 4. I, thankfully, was taught these very values at an early age. Honestly, though I don't remember it ever coming up, really. Were there same sex families around when I was a child? Surely. Although I can't recall any. I wonder, however, if that's because it was so taboo. In our house, it would've been a non-issue and I am so proud to have passed that on to my little Isabel. Our friends are a rainbow of colors and sexual orientations.
Sometime I think people could learn a lot from children. They know love. They embrace differences. They live what we teach them. Here, we will teach her we are all different and that is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. In her life she is going to encounter all kinds of people and she will be better for it. Undoubtedly though she will also meet folks with a less liberal view of the world. That's their problem. You be you. You be love. And everything else will be just fine.
She was carrying two Disney Princess backpacks and holding a sippy cup. One small girl, maybe two years old, was playing in the grass in front of her while another, maybe five, was further along on the trail making her getaway. She was a Mom. That shouldn't surprise me since I live in the 'burbs. But it did. I watched as she tried to hold onto the smaller child while yelling at the second to "Stop!" And I immediately felt connected to her. Moms are moms and toddlers are toddlers. The struggle is real. But I had to wonder, how cool would it have been to have a Mom with crazy blue and pink hair?! I imagined her a much cooler Mom than me -- introducing her girl's to The Smith's and Gloria Steinem. Maybe their house is super eco-friendly and everything they eat is organic. Maybe they barely watch t.v.. Maybe I'm reaching...
Either way, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Isabel a few months ago. "There are all sorts of families." I explained. Some have one parent, some have two Mommies and no Daddy, some children live with their Grandparents, Sometimes there are two boys and no kids and some are like ours. In her eyes, I could see her processing this information, a smile on her face. Finally, she says, "That's neat." And I almost cried. For her it doesn't matter. (For all, it shouldn't, in my opinion.) For her, family means love and that can come in lots of different forms.
I want to believe I was that open minded at age 4. I, thankfully, was taught these very values at an early age. Honestly, though I don't remember it ever coming up, really. Were there same sex families around when I was a child? Surely. Although I can't recall any. I wonder, however, if that's because it was so taboo. In our house, it would've been a non-issue and I am so proud to have passed that on to my little Isabel. Our friends are a rainbow of colors and sexual orientations.
Sometime I think people could learn a lot from children. They know love. They embrace differences. They live what we teach them. Here, we will teach her we are all different and that is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. In her life she is going to encounter all kinds of people and she will be better for it. Undoubtedly though she will also meet folks with a less liberal view of the world. That's their problem. You be you. You be love. And everything else will be just fine.
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| This is actual footage of my Mom teaching me about tolerance. |
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