Topics discussed with my 7yo in the last two days, all of which have come up naturally in conversation: - systematic racism - Münchausen syndrome - mental illness - eating disorders - beauty standards
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Racism came up because of the Ninjas for Black Lives segments on American Ninja Warrior, which we watch as a family. Münchausen syndrome came up because he asked if people ever pretend to be sick to go to the hospital to get out of things.
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Mental illness was a natural segue from that; we talked about how chemicals in your brain control your moods, and how taking medicine to help your brain function (like I do) is just like wearing glasses to help your eyes see better (like his dad does).
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Today’s schoolwork talked about allergies and mentioned offhand that food allergies can cause weight loss. He asked why not eating enough could be bad for you, so I referenced the mental illness conversation to talk about beauty culture and eating disorders -
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Whenever we have these conversations, I invariably worry whether I’m doing a good job explaining things so he understands without oversimplifying to the point of inaccuracy. But part of explaining this stuff is accepting that it isn’t one and done; that he’ll likely ask again.
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Sometimes he doesn’t remember the previous conversations, or doesn’t recall them in full; sometimes he does. But even though it can feel daunting, I think it’s important not to shy away from difficult topics when they come up.
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