Baseballs and Lemonade

We are all familiar with the old adage that says, “There’s no time like the present.” When it comes to the concepts of acceptance and inclusion, we also believe that there is “no such thing as too young” to start educating our little ones. During the month of July, GiGi’s Playhouse Rockford was blessed to have multiple organizations host fundraisers to benefit those we serve, and on more than one occasion, we got to see the positive impact of starting early with our youth to normalize inclusion and acceptance so that it becomes habit or second nature for them.

When a professional golfer practices the same swing motion thousands of times, or a basketball player shoots free throws hour after hour, their actions eventually become a part of muscle memory. Hence, the right swing or the right free throw position becomes a habit. The same can be said for thought processes or human interaction. What you learn and what you practice translates into what you believe and how you act. If a young child is taught to be judgmental or to exclude others based on perceived differences, chances are that they will grow up believing that type of behavior is acceptable.

If, on the other hand, parents teach their children to be accepting and open minded, to value differences rather than shunning them, to think for themselves rather than reacting based on stereotypes, their habits and their interactions will reflect that as well. We got to see some great examples of this during some of the community fundraisers that were hosted this month on behalf of the Playhouse.

At the Rockford Rivets “Non-Profit of the Game” Night, a seven-year-old boy named Dale brought his glove to the ballpark hoping to catch a foul ball. Generally speaking, kids who are lucky enough to catch a foul ball or have a player throw a ball to them in the stands consider that to be a treasure or a keepsake. They wouldn’t readily give up such a prized possession. However, Dale’s parents obviously taught him well. He walked over to the Playhouse Director, ball in hand, and offered to give his ball to one of the Playhouse participants. He gave his ball to Alexis, which made her night. We thanked him, and he just said, “It’s okay… I thought it might make her happy.” What a cool young man – and what cool parents for teaching their son to think that way!

A few days later, the kids from Tender Times Child Care hosted a lemonade stand to benefit the Playhouse. They were so excited to be doing something meaningful to help the Playhouse, and their enthusiasm was contagious. They worked hard and really leaned on the cuteness factor to charm their customers into extra donations. It was so cute – but it was also impressive to see them working diligently to make a difference for those with Down syndrome.

The world is unfortunately full of opportunities for our young people to learn bad habits and pick up negative attitudes or behaviors. It is just as full, however, with teaching moments and chances to show them how to be kind, caring, accepting individuals. Let’s try hard to embrace those opportunities whenever they come along. If we can do that, maybe the next generation will be a step ahead in making the world a better place than they found it!