I’m writing this today because as the mother of 3 beautiful, healthy girls, I have made it my mission to teach my girls that one of the most important things in life is being kind to others. I believe it is our job to teach our children that the world is made up of many different and unique human beings. That the differences in us is what makes us beautiful. The truth is that children are not born with hate or dislike for others, parents and society starts to teach that. I think that children by nature are intrigued by differences that they may see in others, but it is our job to explain to them the why and form compassion in them. An example that I will share with you is one in which I was just being the mother that I am, and yet I left that situation with a bigger conviction that it is important to teach my girls to accept everyone for who they are. One night, after a long day at a Disney Park, we got on the shuttle back to our hotel room. As we made our way to the back of the shuttle, we passed a little albinal girl with her mother. As we sat down, my oldest, that at the time might have been 10 or 11 years old, turns to me and says, ” mom, why does that little girl look like that? every time I see a kid like that it scares me, they look scary.” I did not get mad at her because I realized that she had probably bumped into few if any albinal people. As a child she did not understand why their features were the way they were. So, I took the time to explain to her that there was nothing to be scared of. The little girl was just like she was, only that because she was albinal (which I explained what that meant) her skin, eyes and color hair were a little different then what she is used to. But that it was no different from blonde or black, blue or brown eyes, and white or black skin. That her being albinal is what made her unique. By the end of our conversation, my daughter understood, apologized to me for what she had said, because with the knowledge she had now about what she feared, she felt bad. Either way, a few seconds after we were done speaking, there was gentleman sitting in the back that I had not realized was there, he tells me,”hank You. Confused, I asked him what he was thanking me for. He explained to me, that the little albinal girl in the front with her mother was his wife and daughter. He went on to tell me that of course the probabilities to having an albino child are very rare but even more rare was the fact that their second daughter came out albino as well. He told me he had heard the entire conversation that I had with my daughter and was so thankful that I had taken the time to explain why his daughter was a little different. He told me that many times he hears kids who make fun of or are scared by his daughter and sees parents who just don’t care. And even less, parents who cared enough to to take the time to explain that differences in people are not a reason of fear, instead a form of uniqueness. Uniquness that makes all of us, US!
zorysworld 