For at least 33 years these hideous orange hats have been gracing us with their presence.

These are the same hats I wore when I was my sons age attending the same daycare and preschool.  These hats had one purpose….. to help us stand out as belonging to the daycare, so we didn’t get lost in the shuffle during a field trip. For me as a child these hats represented so much more. Freedom, fun and being a part of something “cool”.  I’d put on my dang bright orange hat with the elastic back, grab on to that knotted rope, and off we would go down 24th Avenue to feed the horses, to the festival of trees at Christmas, out to the park, or wherever nana could get us all in her dark green van with the yellow license plate that read “KIDSVAN”

I was a child who’s parents worked out of the home. I got to spend my time at daycare. We learned about everything from the weather, to the days of the week, different Cultures, Heritages and traditions. We learned about food and walking sticks, spiders and science AND everything in between. Nana taught us how to love eachother and how to fight, and how if you don’t have anything nice to say………You guessed it. Don’t say anything at all. 

I love that my kids are a part of the orange hat wearing crew. They have friends that look different than them. They are boys and they are girls. They have different skin colors, and different hair color. They have married parents and divorced parents. They have gay family members and they have straight. They have dads with tattoos and moms who wear business suits. They live in big houses and not so big houses. They are rich and they are poor. They have siblings and they are only children. They have learning disorders and they are ahead of the curve. They are big and they are small. They have many many differences. BUT you know what they don’t have? DIVIDE. They don’t have divide because they haven’t been taught division.

What my kids do have is that damn orange hat! The hat that makes them the same as everyone else in their very diverse club.

I am a mother to 3 young kids and a wife. I’m busy busting my ass to build a life and a legacy for them. I don’t have countless hours to battle on social media about what’s wrong with this world. AND Just because I don’t shout from the roof tops that I believe all lives matter and don’t change my profile picture to some relevant quote of support, doesn’t mean I don’t care.  What it really means is I am busy in real life, loving on people. My kids, my co-workers, my husband, my community. I’m busy making sure my kids don’t ever think that the behaviors of these torch holding idiots are OK. I’m busy shoving their heads in the sand so they can continue to live loving each other for their differences, because they don’t see a difference. What they see is a their best buddy and fellow orange hat wearer ready to take on the world.

 I would suggest putting on your orange hat and holding tight to the rope. We are on this walk together. If you take off your hat and let go of the rope you just may get lost following the crowd.

It starts here. In our homes. With our kids. They are our tomorrow.

              ♥️Keila nicole♥️