Never Below You. Never Above You. Always Beside You.
There has been a a lot of talk of equality on social media and in the news recently. It has brought talking to our children about equality to the for fronts of our lives. But how do we do it and what is the best way to explain it?
Out of Elsa, Cleo and Brody, Elsa is at the age to understand that some people are different and what equality actually is. That isn’t to say that Cleo doesn’t know anything at all but there is so much to talk about that we, in a way, drip feed it to our children from when they are born.
My children have grown up with my Brother who has Down Syndrome so they understand that not everyone is the same but everyone should be treated equally. No matter their race, religion, disability, skin colour, gender, the list honestly goes on. We have taught them and will continue to as they grow that everyone should be loved and treated as we would like to be treated.
We live in a society where we tell people to be who they want to be but then they get judge for doing so and I think this is so wrong. We should be able to be whoever we want to be as long as we are not hurting anyone else and we treat everyone with equal respect. I live by if you are nice to me then I am nice to you. Regard less or what I or you look like and that is what I am teaching my children.
I hope by doing this they grow up not judging people by the colour of their skin or their gender or anything that makes them different to them.
Elsa has realised though that not everyone feels the same way. She has learnt this through having Rory as her Uncle. Not everyone believes in equality and she sees it as some people are not as nice as her but she doesn’t understand why people do it.
Take the Black Live Matter Protests. Elsa picks things up very quickly and she knows that something is happening and it means that she asks me questions. She knows that they are protesting because people get judged and treated badly because of their skin colour. But Elsa doesn’t seem to even notice when someone has a different skin colour to her, to her it is just that someone has darker skin. That’s it. They aren’t below her or above her, they are beside her.
We believe in equality and the idea that everyone should be treated equality. No matter who they are or how they look. It doesn’t matter to us. My goal as a Mum is to teach my children this to the best of my ability and if they grow up to be kind and loving human beings to everyone on this planet no matter what then I have done my job as their Mum properly!
The Coastal Mummy 