Her name is Ace, and she just doesn't understand. People think her brother Archie is different. But Archie isn't different to Ace. He's just another little kid.
But to the rest of the world, Archie is a kid who was orphaned in his native Bulgaria because he had down syndrome. He was adopted by an American family, and along with Ace he's star of a video that I -- a jaded old mom blogger who has seen thousands of viral videos over the years -- can't get out of my head. Just watch!
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Watching these two adorable siblings this morning on a friend's Facebook page, I couldn't help seeing my 6-year-old on the playground in the back of my mind. I always marvel when I take her out there. I watch her walk up to kids who are perfect strangers. They exchange names, and suddenly, they're friends, ready to take on the world. At this age, kids are just kids. There is no color. No gender. There are no "problems."
And then they go to school. And they meet kids who weren't raised by parents like me (and my husband), parents who don't teach their kids the everyone is equal and everyone deserves respect and everyone has value. Someone tells them different is bad ... and we wonder why we have bullies and wars and division in America?
We wouldn't. Not if kids stayed like Ace. Not if we still walked up to strangers on the playground and said "hey, you are cool, I am cool, let's be friends." Not if everyone believed like Ace does ... that kids like Archie are "just like any other kid." They aren't different. They just are.
What have you told your kids about kids who are "different"?
Image via eicherumba/YouTube