The Green Parent

It all starts with our kids. As parents, we know that our kids are little sponges who absorb everything we say and do (especially what we do!) throughout the day. If we want our children to be responsible stewards of the planet, we have to help them love and respect nature in the little things we do each day. In the same sense, our kids learn other important values, like how to treat other people, by watching our actions.

March is Disability Awareness Month and its got me thinking outside the “green box.” After all, bgeing a green parent is more than just talking to kids about recycling and energy conservation. It’s also about teaching kids how we care for society as a whole.

Seven percent…roughly 3.6 million kids in the U.S. are affected by a disability. For some kids, it’s physical, for others its developmental, behavioral, sensory, or emotional.  But regardless of the disability, all kids deserve to be treated with the same respect, the same love, and the same hope for the future.  And that starts with the kids.

At my house, we stick with the straightforward approach.  One of my best friends growing up has a son who was born 90% deaf.  When my girls were little, they would ask about the strange device he wore on his head or why he used his hands instead of his mouth to talk.  Rather than skirt the issue, I talked to them about it, and encouraged them (with my friend’s blessing) to ask the little boy about what it was like to be deaf.  They learned his signs and marveled at the fact that he he could turn off his hearing aide if he didn’t want to listen to his mother!

So how do you talk to your kids about disabilities?  If you haven’t yet had this conversation, now is the time to get started.  Here are some great resources to help you along:

Photo by