There was a story on NPR last month that showed that despite sharing the same genes, siblings can be completely foreign to each other from a personality perspective. Not only do they share the same culture, they come from the same gosh darn family….and still sometimes can’t get along. You’d think applying some of the…
I have to tell you in all honesty that my 9 year old son and I made this birthday cake for his dad/my husband with all the love in our hearts. Sergio always says he wants to retire on a farm so we chose a farm theme, and inspired by the amazing book “Hello Cupcake,”…
After all of the build up, there was no way Dillon was going to miss trying a hot dog in Paris. “A foot long, on a full baguette, and covered with cheese,” I recalled from my high school exchange trip. “Sometimes with French Fries stuffed right into the bun!” added my husband. “It lived up…
Between a Bat Mitzvah (Jewish coming of age ceremony, Bat for girl, Bar for boy) on Saturday and a conversation at lunch yesterday that exposed multiple unconsicous assumptions of mine, I seem to have race, bias, and interculturalism on the brain, and in particular the idea of how culture is passed-on from one generation to the…
Probably not billed as a kids movie (more “gratuitous” nudity than the average PG movie) but Dillon and I were excited to see “Babies,” the documentary, which follows the lives of four babies during their developmental years (from birth to walking): Ponijao from Namibia, Bayarijargal from remote Mongolia, Mari in Tokyo, Japan, and Hattie in…
Remember the 1958 film The Blob, with its big red amorphous goo rolling and taking over the town, absorbing the minds of young people who were not strong enough to resist? Of course the “BIG RED BLOB” was none too subtle a reference to the Red Scare and fear of Communism taking over the US. Russia’s…
Intercultural Talk was delighted to catch up with Dr. Charlton McIlwain following his ‘appearance’ on DoctorRadio on Sirius/XM Radio earlier this week, talking about “Teaching Kids about Race.” 1. What are the top three pointers you have for parents when teaching kids about race? 1. Be willing to talk to your kids about race. 2.…
It was the big, burly, African American football player gushing on and on about caring for his Yorkie post surgery for a hurt paw that really opened my mom’s eyes. “I figured he wouldn’t be interested,” said my mom, about signing her petition to end puppy mills in Missouri, “but I needed the signatures.” Not…
It’s day five of Spring break, and my 8 year old is challenging my intercultural (aka intergenerational) communications competence. While we have disagreed on a plethora of other things this week (I love my child, I love my child) we both agreed yesterday that “how can I claim to be a great arbitrator,…
Your 7 year old child who is white hesitates to shake someone’s hand who is African-American. Your first grader tells another student she’s “a lesbian with her sister.” You were there. You weren’t there. You are the most open, anti-racist, multicultural person you know. Where did your child get this from? I’ve seen stories about…
