The Color Talk

The most difficult part to having an exceptionally bright child is that I am forced to discuss and explains things much earlier than I ever imagined. We had an eventful morning with just the two of us and decided to swing into Subway for some lunch before heading home to nap.

For the past few weeks, Lucas has been obsessed with BOYS vs. GIRLS. He has learned to distinguish between the two and loves to point people out everywhere we go. While leaving Target he yelled that a boy was driving a car, and then while eating our sandwiches he said that the little girl was looking at him!

About halfway into our lunch a fairly young African American guy walked in and Lucas couldn't stop staring. He then started yelling, "He's a bad boy!" repeatedly. I was really shocked and continued to reaffirm him that the man was a nice person too. Yikes! I wasn't upset, but I was genuinely embarrassed. I don't blame him for his choice of words because I know that at this age, he doesn't know any better.

We had a similar incident a few weeks ago while reading a story. There were three babies crawling around on one of the pages; a white, asian, and a black. He kept telling me that the black baby was a mean one and that the other two were nice ones. I did my best explaining that they were ALL nice, but it appears that it's time for a serious talk with my boy.

Living in California I was exposed to many different cultures and ethnicity's. I have two mixed cousins, and was friends with people of all colors and backgrounds. Now that we are in Alaska, I feel that the tables have turned. The majority of the population seems to be composed of natives, whites, and asians, so I primarily feel that his confusion is merely a lack of exposure. Nevertheless, this isn't something that I want my child saying, or more importantly, believing.

So, it seems that a good talk is in order and that I may need to rent some children's books to help in the matter. I honestly didn't expect this to happen for some time, but now that it's here, I want to teach him about respect and equality as much as I can. If anyone knows of any good resources or activities that have worked for them, please let me know!