Boy, have times changed since the last time I wrote about parenthood, which was back in early July. At that time, Colin was just learning how to crawl and grasping the realization that he could move from one part of the room to the other. Now, all bets are off as the little guy has mastered the crawling stage and is inching closer and closer to utilizing walking as his main form of transportation. While I’m usually a shell of a man once the day is over from chasing him around the house, I’m genuinely enjoying this stage of parenthood. He still thinks I’m hilarious (but who doesn’t, honestly?); we are having fun playing with all of his toys, chasing the animals around the house, and going for walks; and, we have slowly begun our strong and unbreakable father/son bond.

One aspect of this stage that I’m enjoying tremendously is looking into Colin’s eyes and seeing nothing but innocence and pureness. It frightens me that one day he’ll grow up and learn about all of the negativity in our world today. He’ll discover that people will judge and degrade certain individuals based on their race, ethnicity, gender, income levels, among others; instead of taking the opportunity to get to know them and find out what’s in their heart. He’ll ask me why groups of people will senselessly protest and hurt (and in some cases, kill) innocent people just because they didn’t get their way in a political election or judicial case. The questions of, “Why? and, “How?” will follow once he finds out that children will bully other children just because they don’t wear the fanciest clothes or they don’t excel at athletics.

As a parent, I recognize that Colin will one day be curious as to why as a society we still struggle with issues that have plagued us for years and years. He’ll want answers to be able to form his own opinion and judgment on the issues we as Americans face each and every day. And, quite frankly, as scared as I am I’m not going to shelter him. I’m going to give him informed and concrete explanations as to why these problems still affect society. I will try my best to educate him on the differences between right and wrong and to never judge a person based on their outward appearance. I will regularly emphasize to him how unfair it is to draw conclusions and opinions of others without taking the chance to know them as an individual. I’m sure he’ll become annoyed at my constant reminders of, “you can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” or the classic,”if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

While I will admit I’m moderately frightened at the responsibility of raising a moral, law-abiding, good-hearted adult knowing all of the exterior components that can have a negative impact on him, I know that if Emily and I raise him the way our parents raised us we should be just fine. Additionally, I get excited when I think about the possibility of him being an advocate for change or working for a cause to make the world around him a better place. I want him to give back to his community, spread peace and love to those who are deeply in need of it, and to never forget the importance of humility and kindness.

I know that I have a while until I have to dig into this topic, nevertheless, it feels good to pen down some of my thoughts and ways that I would approach it once it becomes applicable. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy watching Doc McStuffins and playing with trucks.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading!

— Chris