Musing Momma

a blog about parenting and mixed race families

My Favorite 5-Year-Old Talks About Our Mixed Race Family

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As this Spotlight thing has gotten rolling, I thought it might be fun to get a kid’s point of view on his multiracial family. So, okay, my kid’s point of view. Because you guys don’t hear enough about my family here, right? I was curious to see how Zippy would answer some of the Spotlight questions and what his responses would say about his experiences thus far.

 

What actually happened was that some of the questions were just too abstract for a 5-year-old, as evidenced by exchanges such as this: Me – How can you tell Daddy & I love each other? Zip – Because you got married. Me – Well, why do you think we got married? Zip – Because you love each other. Hmmm….okay…. makes sense I suppose. Still, some of Zip’s answers did tell me a lot. Read on…


Who is in our family? Mommy, Daddy, Bee, and me Zippy. Bee is 2 1/2. I’m 5 3/4.

What makes our family multiracial or mixed? Our family is multiracial because sometimes two people are from different states and when they have kids they’re mixed.


self-portrait
Self-portrait of the interviewee

How did Mommy and Daddy meet? They met in college. (It was grad school, but close enough!)

If Mommy and Daddy argue, what kinds of things do we argue about? I know something you might  have to talk about! Like Daddy doesn’t want me to watch Scooby Doo but you say it’s okay once a week, so you have to have a little talk about it.

How can you tell Daddy and I love each other? Because you got married a long, long time ago.

Well, why do you think we got married? Because you love each other.

 

 
Okay, but how can you tell that we still love each other? You give hugs and kisses a lot! 

 

What is your favorite memory of something our family did together? Remember when we used the timer on my camera to take a picture of our family snuggling? And when we went to see Thomas and when we went to Vermont and when we went on vacation.

 

What is a problem that our family has? Daddy likes to sleep in, but sometimes Bee cries and wakes Daddy up. (Ah, he is such an astute observer, that Zippy!)

 

What do you like about being a mixed family? Because we’re all different colors. (He gave me one of his big, dimpled smiles when he says this.) I just like it. Even me and my brother are different colors. You’re the lightest, Mommy, and then I’m light. Bee is dark. And Daddy is the darkest. We’re like a family of rainbows.

 

 My favorite preschooler talks about our mixed race family



Has it ever mattered to anyone else that we’re different colors? (Zippy pointed to himself.) Is being different colors ever a problem? No.

 

Why does it matter to you? Because I like it so much.

 

So it’s something you feel good about, that makes our family unique.  In the Rita the Cheetah song , the leopard says he’s unique because leopards, cheetahs, and jaguars all have different spots.

 

They all have different spots, but they are all cats, right? Yes, they are all cats!

 

Is there anything else you’d like to say about our family? I know something else different about our family. Yours and Daddy’s cars are different.

 

That’s right! Colors are just one thing. There are lots of things that can be different in a family. 

 

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What Zippy’s interview told me was that, first off, we might need to explain “multiracial” a little bit better, lest Zip continue thinking all marriages between Pennsylvanians and Vermonters result in biracial children. But more importantly (and more seriously) at this point he sees being multiracial as something that makes our family special and unique, and he sees our skin color as just one thing that varies among us. How awesome is that?! And he hasn’t had any negative or hurtful experiences at this point, thank goodness. I hope that we have built a strong foundation so that this continues to be his experience as he goes off into the Big World of Kindergarten this fall. 

 

 If your family is interested in being featured, I’d love to hear from you! Please email me at musingmomma@gmail.com.

  

 

Comments

  1. This is awesome!!! Love, love, love his family picture … i thought he'd make a great scientist, but he might just be an artist! great parenting.

  2. Thank you! Yes, he's been very into drawing this past year and it amazes me how much a child's artwork can evolve in just a year. 🙂

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