Allison Slater Tate's recent post reminded me of this conversation with my daughter, Emma. She was 7. I wish our government was as smart as a second-grader.
"Mommy, why do some people say women should do all the cooking and take care of the children?"
"Hmm. Who did you hear say that?"
"I asked Daddy why he cooked all the time and he said it was because he liked to cook, but he said some people thought women should do all the cooking and women should take care of the children, and men should only go out and earn money. Why do they think that?"
"Well, some people think there's only one way to be a family, and that's to have a daddy who earns money and a mommy who stays home and takes care of the kids."
"But some families have just a mommy, and some families have two mommies, and some families only have a daddy. And some families don't have any kids. They just have dogs, or cats, or a hamster."
"And they're all families, but some people think there's only one way to make a family that's safe for kids, and they feel afraid when they realize that people like us don't agree with them."
"What are they afraid of?"
"I think maybe they're afraid that if there's more than one way to make a family, they'll lose something that they have."
"Mommy, that doesn't make any sense."