You may or may not have noticed that we took a little bit of a hiatus after our Black Lives Matter post. If we’re being totally honest, we all needed a little bit of a break. The world felt heavy. We felt heavy. And everything we had planned to post about just didn’t feel as important as what is happening in our communities right now. We also felt like, to us at least, it was a little insensitive to jump right back into our regular posts and product reviews while people were (see also: are) dying. So, we took a break.
But we’re ready to jump back in. And that doesn’t mean that we’re not still processing what is going on around us. Or that we aren’t still doing the work that each of us needs to to be better allies and advocates for change.
So, we thought we’d take the first blog post back (and continue to do this type of post once a week) to show you what we’re doing to bring diversity, awareness and change in our homes. Because guys, it starts with us. It starts at home first.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: we have a unique responsibility to educate ourselves so that we can educate our children. We MUST raise kind, accepting, right-doing, empathetic little fighters for equality. We MUST do better.
So, without further ado….
Addison LOVES to read. She loves looking at the pictures, turning the pages, pointing out things she recognizes, and she really loves hearing the words. Her little brain is working so hard on forming those connections and putting words together, so reading is her jam right now.
One of the ways we’ve decided to bring a little diversity to a place Addison loves and seeks out is by adding it to her bookshelf. It’s funny though, after we made this decision and ordered some books that we thought would be age appropriate for her, we noticed how many books we already have on her shelf that show diversity. We had become a little blind to it ourselves (whether that’s good or bad, I’m not sure).
The books we ordered have not shown up yet (everybody had the same idea, which is great for bookstore business!), so we were thrilled to find out we had options on our shelf already. I thought I would take this week’s post to introduce you to one that Addison frequently grabs off of her shelf and eagerly waits for us to read it to her.
It’s called Beach Day by Karen Roosa. It’s all about a day at the beach. Addison loves it because she loves water. And it also features a dog on almost every page, and she LOVES dogs. Every page, she stops to say “doggy, doggy, doggy,” and points to where the dog is. For older kids, there’s a seek and find page at the end of the book for added fun. We love this book because it shows kids from different cultures and backgrounds getting together and playing at the beach together. Boy…. That sounds like a dream right now, doesn’t it? Anyway, getting off topic.
If you love the beach, love books and are looking for a book that exemplifies different backgrounds, this is your book.
If you end up ordering it, let us know what you think! Or if you have suggestions for others we need to have on our bookshelf, we’re all ears. We are always here to educate ourselves and make ourselves better.
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