Mommy what color am I?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think he is just asking for a color, so tell him brown, or beige, or capuccino, or whatever shade. I told my DD peach when she asked this question at around 4. My other DD decided she was "bun" colored. As in the bread. The both have brown eyes, but are always making the distinction (very important to them, LOL!) that one is dark chocolate, the other, millk. Kids are very literal, so I am guessing he is just asking for a color, not a discussion of race at this age. That comes later.

Are your kids white? Because I think race - or at least, why do I look different from these other people - does come up at a very young age for minorities, even if not for white people. We also live in a place with a high number of minorities but they were still wondering.

[Anonymous]

I have mixed race kids. Try asking the question back to them. ‘What color do you think you are?’. The responses can be revealing to what they are thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mixed isn’t a color. What color is his skin? Kids are literal. Answer him.

He's light brown. Most people would assume he's white or possibly a light skinned Latino. I'm very fair.

Tell him he's a beautiful brown. Then explain why he is the color he is. At least, that's what my kids were interested in knowing. Not so much the color - because they knew their colors by then - but why were they a different color from other people they knew?

OP here. Okay yes I didn't think it would come up but people do ask me if my husband's darker a lot.
My son hears these conversations. I think he's curious why he looks different.

Latina from a diverse family here. I struggle a lot with how people approach and ask questions about skin color in front of kids. A number of people have mistaken me for a nanny to my own kids. I think you should look at the people in question and say "are you asking about my sex life?" and leave it at that. Because it is creepy when it comes down to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mixed isn’t a color. What color is his skin? Kids are literal. Answer him.

He's light brown. Most people would assume he's white or possibly a light skinned Latino. I'm very fair.

Tell him he's a beautiful brown. Then explain why he is the color he is. At least, that's what my kids were interested in knowing. Not so much the color - because they knew their colors by then - but why were they a different color from other people they knew?

OP here. Okay yes I didn't think it would come up but people do ask me if my husband's darker a lot.
My son hears these conversations. I think he's curious why he looks different.

Latina from a diverse family here. I struggle a lot with how people approach and ask questions about skin color in front of kids. A number of people have mistaken me for a nanny to my own kids. I think you should look at the people in question and say "are you asking about my sex life?" and leave it at that. Because it is creepy when it comes down to it.

No it's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mixed isn’t a color. What color is his skin? Kids are literal. Answer him.

He's light brown. Most people would assume he's white or possibly a light skinned Latino. I'm very fair.

Tell him he's a beautiful brown. Then explain why he is the color he is. At least, that's what my kids were interested in knowing. Not so much the color - because they knew their colors by then - but why were they a different color from other people they knew?

OP here. Okay yes I didn't think it would come up but people do ask me if my husband's darker a lot.
My son hears these conversations. I think he's curious why he looks different.

Latina from a diverse family here. I struggle a lot with how people approach and ask questions about skin color in front of kids. A number of people have mistaken me for a nanny to my own kids. I think you should look at the people in question and say "are you asking about my sex life?" and leave it at that. Because it is creepy when it comes down to it.

No it's not.

PP here. Sorry I meant to clarify: say to people who are asking if your husband is darker " are you asking about my sex life?" Because people asking about skin color of partners because of resulting progeny is creepy!

[Anonymous]

We matched our forearms to crayons. DS was apricot color, and I was burnt sienna color!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg why not just answer the question?

My son’s eyes are blue. If he asks what color they are, should I delve into his German roots? I answer “blue” and move on.

Are we all just going to give this one a pass? What a stupid entitled answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg why not just answer the question?

My son’s eyes are blue. If he asks what color they are, should I delve into his German roots? I answer “blue” and move on.

Are we all just going to give this one a pass? What a stupid entitled answer.

+1
hopeless

[Anonymous]

My DH and I are both white. He's olive, and I'm pink. We live in a very multicultural area.
Our DCs were fascinated by skin colors, and it was a recurring topic of conversation in their preschools. I feel like it mostly settled down in Kindergarten. They're in high school now, so my memories are fading.

We talked about what color they were. One of my kids is pinker, like me, the other is olive toned like her dad. It's obvious to the kids but they might not have words for it. In the 2 year old program at their preschool, their teacher had a craft where kids made dolls of themselves using pieces of construction paper glued to a doll shape. She had a huge variety of colors. Some kids were very determined to pick the color that most closely matched them, others picked their favorite color, and some went full-on random. It was a fun activity and since 2 year olds love talking about colors, it was also a great way to teach them how different everyone is.

[Anonymous]

My DD came home from daycare when she was learning her colors at about 2 or 3 saying she has yellow skin and yellow hair and her friend has brown skin and brown hair. We’re white and DD is blonde. I agree with the PP’s about kids being really literal and he may just want to know his color. But you could also ask him why he’s asking.

[Anonymous]

Tan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg why not just answer the question?

My son’s eyes are blue. If he asks what color they are, should I delve into his German roots? I answer “blue” and move on.

Are you one of those ignorant people who think there is no racism?

[Anonymous]

How old is he? The answer is black. Seems like that answer hurts to hear. My kids are as light as yours, but they know they are black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is he? The answer is black. Seems like that answer hurts to hear. My kids are as light as yours, but they know they are black.

I apologize. I thought you said he was South African. Why can you say brown and that you are half South Asian?

[Anonymous]

One DD looks mixed AA. The other is more racially ambiguous. She hears Latina a lot (which is not inaccurate) and South Asian (which is way off). However, both are the exact same toasty brown color.