Beyond fear

When my daughter was about 3 years old, she asked me to play ‘families’ (or ‘house’) with her one weekend. She said that the family we were playing had a child and two mums. I replied that yes, some families have two mums or two dads, a mum and a dad, just one parent, or sometimes an aunty, uncle or grandparent. She shared with me then that she had been learning about different types of families at daycare.

I have had conversations with friends and other parents about this and I know that not all parents find it an appropriate thing to teach to children. I can respect that as each person is entitled to their beliefs and it is up to each family what principles and values they feel are best to raise their children with. However, I personally want my children to accept all children and people regardless of any differences, and I teach them that everyone is different and unique, but equal and to be respected and appreciated. It may be argued that even if this is taught to children, why at such a young age? Again, this is a fair argument but I feel glad that from a very young age, my daughter has understood that if she sees a friend who has two mums or two dads, for example, she would never see this as something falling outside of a perceived ‘normal’ or something to discriminate against.