Rainbow

While folding laundry this morning and playings Kidz Bop for the baby to listen to, I also had The Today show on in the background as I do every morning. I have watched The Today Show ever since I can remember.
I looked over to the TV and saw that the segment that was on said Raising a Rainbow Child... my very first thought was: "Oh, this is talking about raising a 'rainbow baby' - which is the common term for a child after a loss.
Urban Dictionary has this as a definition: 
 

"A "rainbow baby" is a baby that is born following a miscarriage or still birth.

In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better. The rainbow is more appreciated having just experienced the storm in comparison.

The storm (pregnancy loss) has already happened and nothing can change that experience. Storm-clouds might still be overhead as the family continue to cope with the loss, but something colourful and bright has emerged from the darkness and misery."

 

As I paid closer attention to the segment, I realized that the story was actually about raising a child without gender conformity.  The idea peaked my interest, 

Here is the article from the Today shows website. 

I think this is an interesting concept. And there is something to be said for raising our children without these types of constraints. 

I remember when my son was a couple months old, we were in the grocery store and one of the employees was commenting about how cute he was, etc.  And then she noticed that her bracelet caught his eye and he was fixated on it. She then proceeded to say: "Oh, you don't want a bracelet! You're a boy!"...and I thought to myself, WHY NOT?! Boys wear bracelets too. But then, my second thought was, a lot of people have these ideas in their heads. Lots of people live by and express gender roles. Myself included, don't get me wrong...but when I heard her comment, part of me thought, maybe he will want to wear bracelets. what wrong with that?! nothing. Men and boys wear bracelets. Bracelets are not reserved for women and girls only. 

 

This also brings me back to something I ALWAYS say. We are a product of how we were raised. 

We are all brought up in different ways with different ideas influencing us. For some people, I don't think it is their fault that they thinks certain way since that is how they were raised. Each child is molded by their parents. Each parent has their own way of doing things, thinking and acting and that often rubs off on their children. 

Of course as individuals get older they also start forming their own thoughts and opinions on things but I think we will all still have our roots and there will still be a glimmer of how we were raised sprinkled into our actions as adults.  

 

With all of that being said, I also have to share my other thought, which was: letting your son wear dresses might set him up to be bullied. This is an unfortunate reality. There will always be the people who do not accept others because they are "different"...

But what is the bigger picture here? 

For me it is: We should raise our children to be who they are and who they want to be. We should be open and accepting of our children's choices. And above all else, we should love our children unconditionally.

((love .and. light))