Okay, here's a funny story about my two older boys. In the car on the way to Florida this past weekend, we had our moments of bickering. For the most part, they did well together, they just griped about the long hours in the car. But one memorable moment was when they were hurting each others' feelings by calling each other "Dumbo." I think they've seen the movie once. I know that when I was younger, I would not have appreciated being called that because I was sensitive about my ears being big. Well, not my boys. They weren't offended because of the big-ear thing. They weren't offended because of the elephant thing. And, no, they weren't offended because of the word "dumb" being part of "Dumbo." Wanna know what bothered them about being called "Dumbo"?? They thought Dumbo was a girl!!! Oh, my boys! They are their father's sons. He has done a good job of passing along the "Girls are stinky" sentiment. What am I going to do?!
You know you're pretty cool in my boys' eyes when they don't think you're "stinky" even though you're a girl. Jeremy was making a list of all his friends tonight, which he specifically said only included boys. The list read like this... "Nathan, Grant, Tyler, Colby, Abby,..." Yay for Abby! She made the list!
So here's a question for all of you. When you're raising your children, how do you instill a love of everyone--neighbors AND enemies--early on? How do you keep your kids from seeing skin color and gender? I like to think I'm a good example to my kids about showing the same treatment to people of all color, gender, age, sexual orientation, etc. But there's not all that many opportunities in our small town to interact with people with big differences. One thing I have enjoyed about working at the health department, however, is that there is a diverse culture there and the kids play with other kids and interact with other adults. I think it's good for them!
But maybe I'm making a problem out of nothing because I'm talking about it & am concerned about it.
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Glad to hear that Abby made the list :)
I think teaching children to respect and be kind to others is the key. As a preschool teacher, I don't see skin color and gender as huge issues in young children...maybe the gender issue some. If it becomes a "child-initiated" issue then that's when I think it is our job as parents/teachers to remind our children to be respectful to others. I think children need to learn and understand that everyone is unique and special and important. We are all different but also very similar, too. We all have feelings. Respecting others helps us to appreciate and celebrate the differences and similarities in each other.
I use the word "respect" with my kids ALL THE TIME!! I want them to learn to be a respectful person, respectful friend, respectful sibling, respectful son/daughter, respectful student, respectful neighbor, etc!
Also, there are a lot of children's books on this topic. One that comes to mind is "We are all alike, We are all different."
Just some thoughts! Hope that helps some.
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