My road to world peace
On rotation in our DVD player right this minute is “Happy To Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me.” My friend Kelly gave it to me shortly after Ruby came home with instructions to watch it as soon as possible. Never mind that my child wouldn’t be interested in it for years. “I promise: You’ll love it,” she said as she pressed it into my hands.
It sat on our console for a month or two until one day, on my way out the door for work, I decided I had to watch it RIGHT THAT MINUTE. Because, truly, I have nothing if not free time each morning, one giant vacuous space in time to park it on my couch, remote in hand, a carton of Dibs at my side. Something important on the horizon? Not to worry! I can find something else of equal or (far) less importance to occupy myself and postpone the inevitable more important first something. If you ever find me on all fours, busily sealing all the grout in the bathroom, you’ll know I have a deadline looming. Anyway, who doesn’t have time to watch movies before work, am I right?
A celebration of diversity, this beautifully produced 30-minute HBO video is a series of animated vignettes inspired by a selection of six children’s books, each one read by a different celebrity. Woven in between these fictional stories are real stories of real children who are each different in some way. Living with blindness, cerebral palsy and dwarfism, each of the kids talks about what it’s like to be in their shoes, easily teaching tolerance, acceptance and understanding. All of this is framed with snippets of interviews with what have got to be some of the most adorable and enlightened little humans I’ve ever seen.
I hardly need to say that I cried off my mascara when I watched it that first morning (for the women and cross-dressers out there, I’d recommend viewing sans make-up if you’re a cry-at-Folgers-commercials kind of person). I knew instantly that this video would not only be a staple in our television diet as Ruby grew but that it would become a standard gift to all of our friends with children. I can’t recommend this video highly enough. Oh, and if you click on the link up there and notice that the show only has 3.5 stars on Amazon, that’s merely because some Don-Imus-loving-douche-nozzle who never watched it (but really, really needs to) wrote a review about how it must be racist because the word “nappy” is in the title. Whatev. Don’t let them bring you down. Get yourself a copy. I promise: You’ll love it and so will your kids.
Now, if only HBO would make a video aimed at teaching patience, tolerance and understanding to parents of three-year-olds…
2 Comments