We're all the Same!

I grew up during a time in history when tolerance to "differences" wasn't necessarily accepted 100%.  I'm truly not that old, just was born during the latter part of civil rights.

My parents generation wasn't (still aren't) necessarily accepting of differences whether it be religion, race, ethnic background and disabilities.  Not to say that my parents are intolerant but their generation as a majority lack tolerance.  If that makes any sense.

I have to admit that I do have some prejudices.  I'm not proud of them, but mostly they were built out of  situations and experiences in life.  Some of them could very well be justified but I try to work through them because I want to be able to respect everyone as I would like them to respect me.

It has been very important to me that my kids see beyond the differences and embrace everyone as equals.  However, I won't let them be walked on by anyone and will back them up if someone tries to walk all over them.

We were on vacation last week.  My Norah is a friendly caring soul.  She loves to meet new friends and be a friend to other children.  There was a young girl who was around Norah's age at the beach.  I could tell she had Down's Syndrome but didn't know how affected she was by it.  Norah wanted to make friends with her and desperately play with her.  Since she totally overlooked that this young girl may have developmental delays, I didn't know if I should say anything to her.  I was so worried that she might be annoyed if the young girl wasn't cooperating with Norah's play rules.  Norah spotted this girl and this was the person she chose to want to play with among all the other kids on the beach.  I wanted her to play with this girl because she wanted to make friends with her.  So when she asked me if she could make friends with this girl and play with her, my heart gave a happy sigh.  I did tell her that this girl might not totally understand everything Norah wants to do so to be patient with her.  I explained that she might be shy and her speech might be a little hard to understand but to listen and be patient and above everything go have some fun!

They did play for a little while and Norah had no idea that this girl had Down's.  When the girl and her family was leaving the beach for the day, Norah gave her a huge hug goodbye and told her that we would be at the beach again the next day if she wanted to play.  We did see her again the next day, and Norah went over and said hello.  They played for a few minutes but the little girl said she wanted to hang out with her family.  Norah was okay with that!

The purpose of my blog was just to share how excited I am that our world is changing, changing for the better.  I love to see how kids with delays are integrated into society and are able to make friends and do the things the rest of their peers can do.  When I was growing up this was not necessarily the case.  Kids with special needs were segregated and made fun of.  I was so happy to see that my daughter didn't see any differences and realized that she and this girl were the same!

As a Mom to a child that has a "syndrome" and looks different from his peers in several ways, it gives me comfort that maybe just maybe society is being more tolerant of differences and people are willing to make friends with people outside their "comfort" zone.  Maybe my son won't be teased mercilessly for being tiny, for wearing glasses, for ears that are set low and tilted a bit.

Then, I wonder if what I witnessed was just my daughter being just the sweet and kind person that she is and she's a minority.  This would be bitter sweet - sweet that my daughter is such a good "egg" but bitter than she's in the minority.  I'm hoping that she's just part of a new generation of people that gets it - that we're all the same!