Sally Curtis uses a children's book scene about a Navajo boy's birthday to show how teaching kids about different cultural traditions reduces fear and builds inclusive friendships. Parents who explore unfamiliar customs with their children create space for emotional healing and growth.
So all of these kids from different religions and cultures, we talk about how different kids celebrate birthdays and Christmas and Hanukkah. There's a little boy in the book that I believe he's Navajo. I make the family Navajo. And for their birth, for this little boy's birthday, they do a blue corn cake, not a— as a birthday cake. And it's made out of blue corn. And they sleep outside in tents and they pretend that they're hogans. And it's fun.
Mm.
The kids love this, and they all celebrate each other's religions. They embrace it. And if so many people are afraid of the unknown, and if you don't know, that's okay. Fear is okay, but confront it. Learn about it instead of shying away from it, saying, I don't want my child to be friends with this family because of this religion or this culture. Explore it. Wow. Find out about it. Face your fear. If they're having a birthday party and your child's invited, you're not comfortable leaving your child there alone, stay. You might have fun.
