Last week I went to a mall with my friend, Doug (names changed for anonymity) and his two new daughters Rebecca and Meredith. Doug’s husband, Jeff is already back at work while Doug is taking advantage of his 3-month paternity leave. It was unbelievable to experience the assumptions of nearly every person we interacted with. They all assumed that I was the mom to these babies and that Doug was a super awesome dad for attending to Rebecca and Meredith’s every need while I randomly looked around in stores. I have thought a lot about assumptions since that day and then I found this article from another friend on Facebook. Children with two dads or two moms or many other parenting formations are typical. I like the ways this dad/author suggests to be authentic, honest, and age appropriate with children.

I saw Doug, Jeff, Rebecca and Meredith at a party yesterday and Jeff told me about some interesting experiences with people while walking the girls in our neighborhood. People, read this article. It won’t only be helpful for people who are parents. It’s helpful for everyone.

Acceptance is a fundamental value for all of us.

I’m participating in #blogelul this year. There are different writing prompts for every day as Jews around the world begin to prepare in body and spirit for the New Year, Rosh Hashanah. I don’t post on my blog on Shabbat so on Sunday I will select one of the themes from Saturday or Sunday for my posting. Here’s the Elul theme calendar.