It was a very cold morning and my daughter was running up and down the slide on the playground before class began. At the time she was 5 years old, although she was extremely tall she was a gentle giant. As I was watching her, her beautiful smile quickly turned into a frown and her big brown eyes began to tear up and she was coming down the slide, I asked why are you upset? She replied, Psalms just laughed and told me you can't be my mommy because I am white and you are really, really dark brown.
I used this as a learning opportunity and asked Psalms to come over so we could talk, I asked Isabella how she felt and then asked her to explain to Psalms why she was crying. After I asked Psalms why she didn't think I was Isabella's mommy? She said because you two don't look alike, you are really dark brown and Isabella's white, even your hair is different. I let her know that I was Isabella's mommy and that we all have our own look, some families look just alike while other's don't. That's what makes us unique and special.
Perhaps I should have let the teacher know so she could have used it as a teaching moment, maybe tied in diversity, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds.
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