Brighten Your Day

I'm at a (I'm Muslim) restaurant eating and there's a dad sitting with his two girls. I overhear their conversation. The girls are asking about everything and anything. I'm fascinated by their curiosity.

One of the girls looks at me and asks, 'Daddy, why is she wearing that?'

Her dad responded with something that made my heart so warm. He said, 'There are different religions and cultures and languages. We have to learn about them.'

He then proceeded to share a personal experience of when he lived abroad and learned to speak Spanish.

This reminded me of a Harvard research that I was reading about. 'Children exposed to racism tend to accept and embrace it as young as age 3, and in just a matter of days.'

This is how you teach love, acceptance, understanding and respect. It starts from an early age. Kids listen and imitate their parents' views and behaviors. You are their role model.