Mealtime conversations: discussing racism & other challenging topics with kids, part 1

The topic of combating racism in children is outside our expertise as feeding therapists

but the consequences of silence are so much graver than the trepidation we feel from perhaps saying or doing the wrong thing. Our imperfection is a given. We won’t let it be our excuse.

This will be a 2-post series. In this post, we’re going to talk about the foundational work of discussing racism with kids. In the next post we will get into more specifics and examples of which words to use.

We are turning to the experts on racism (such as The Conscious Kid, Layla Saad, Raising Race Conscious Children, and, of course NPR and Sesame Street) to find guidance on words, timing and tools to use in these discussions. And, adding to this by weaving in our own expertise in the areas of:

• child development

• mealtimes

• relationship-based parenting

I will also pull from our own experience talking to my children about race and racism.