Guest Posting From My Wife - The Innocence of a Child

Our daughter is 3 1/2. Today, she asked me about the little girls she sat next to at the pool on Sunday during her swimming class.

"Mommy," she said. "The little girls at my swimming class.....they had brown hands." It was the first time she ever differentiated that someone looked different than herself. She continued, "And, I have white hands."

I told her that people come in all colors and sizes. And, we can be friends will all different kinds of people.

Later this evening, she told my husband the same thing about seeing little girls with brown hands. And, he, too, told her that people come in all colors and sizes and that the most important thing is that we treat people kindly. And, that no matter what someone looks like, we can be friends with them.

Then, she said, "Mommy, I wonder what color their tummies are?" She told us before bed that in the morning before school, she wanted to color her new found friends a picture. Hopefully, next Sunday we will see them again during swim class and our daughter can present them with her picture.

There is nothing more precious than the innocence of a child. I'm not sure at what point the innocence is lost, but I'd like to think we can preserve our children's innocence for sometime.