Browsing Category: Social Justice

“Why do you have a girl water bottle?!” I paused hearing this child’s reprimanding voice from where I had just dropped off the littles for their summer camp. Slowly, I turned around to determine if I needed to intervene. Henry, then 4 years old, looked at his pink water bottle and then back up with a […]

Yesterday, Henry, now 5 years old, noticed the flag at half-mast on our way to school. “Mama! Look! Oh no. Oh no.” Tears begin to form and his voice quivers and he whispers, “Mama, who died? Mama? Mama? Were they shot, too? Mama! Talk to me! Do we know them? Did someone hold their hand […]

“Mama, if I ever get shot, will you hold my hand so I am not alone when I die?” Henry, age 5. I did not realize it would be less than a month since I originally posted this story (Jan 28th, 2018) that I would be re-visiting it again so very soon. Yet, here it […]

I’m still shaken by the recent H&M marketing campaign. Despite the defensive posts that I read about how, purportedly, “Children don’t really understand these things. It doesn’t matter what they wear.” Granted, understanding may be vastly different than the depth of experience and historical knowledge of adults, but my littles are becoming more and more […]

When I was about 10 years old, my grandfather heard me sobbing and found me under the dining room table reading The Diary of Anne Frank. He gently took me by the hand and led me to the front porch swing where he slowly rocked me until my tears dried. When I could finally find […]

A Pride event with four toddlers is a humbling experience. We started of at the nearby playground to get some of the wiggles out before heading to the “Pride Party,” as they dubbed it. They helped select their outfits. Looking at the results, I sort of thought a rainbow threw up on them. They were […]

When I became a mother, I never expected how profoundly and painfully my heart could ache. And to be fair, nor did I clearly fathom how deeply joyful the love I also experience would be. I did expect difficult conversations and having to make decisions about how to teach and model and practice values that […]