This conversation is not just for Black and Brown families. This conversation is for every parent. Every skin color. Every background. Every household. Because your child is going to live in a world that is still figuring out how to see people. And whether your child is the one who might be targeted or the one who might unknowingly target they need you to prepare them. Silence on race does not produce color blindness. It produces confusion. Silence leaves your child unprepared for what they will inevitably face. Without language, without framework, without the ability to process what happens to them through the lens of their identity and their faith. Silence leaves your child without the tools to recognize injustice, to be a good friend, to understand history, and to stand for what is right when it is not easy. Silence leaves your child to let the world do the teaching. And the world is not a reliable teacher. God created every person in His image. That is the foundation. And on that foundation we can build honest, loving, age-appropriate conversations about race, history, identity, and how to treat people that honor both truth and dignity. You do not need to be an expert. You need to be willing. 💬 Was race talked about in your home growing up? How did that or the absence of it shape how you see this topic today? 🌙 Tonight at 6:30 PM — Practical language for every family. How to teach your child to see people clearly, understand history honestly, and stand for what is right.

This is one of the most delicate conversations a parent can have. Because you are trying to do two things at once tell the truth AND protect your child's love for someone. Those two things can coexist. Here is how. First — separate the person from the disease. "You know how sometimes people get sick and their body does things they can't control? Addiction is like that but it affects the brain. It makes a person feel like they cannot stop even when they want to. It is not because they don't love you. It is because they are sick and they need help." Second — validate what they have seen. "I know you have noticed some things. You are not imagining it and you are not crazy. What you are seeing is real. And it is okay to have big feelings about it." Third — protect them from responsibility. "This is not your fault. You did not cause it and you cannot fix it. Your job is just to be a kid. The adults are working on this." Fourth — give them somewhere to bring their feelings. "If you ever feel scared or confused or angry about any of this come to me. You do not have to figure this out alone." Fifth — bring God into it. "We are praying for them. God loves them and so do we. And love does not mean pretending everything is okay it means we keep showing up and we keep praying." You do not have to have a perfect answer. You just have to have an open door.

Can we talk about Teniqua for a second. 🧡 Because she did not just celebrate herself. She curated an entire experience. She spent her afternoon at high tea. Bridgerton style. Full elegance. Good conversation. Feeling every bit of the queen she is. And then she ended her evening bowling with her husband, laughing and living and soaking up every moment. Her children were away for the weekend and instead of filling that quiet with noise she chose to spend the day with the two people who support her the most. Her mom and her husband. She let the people who love her celebrate her. She received it fully and completely. And then she said something that I have not been able to let go of. Celebrating myself as a parent was something I could not do alone. That right there is the whole mission. That is why this community exists. That is why the Everything Parent Award exists. Because parents were never meant to carry it all alone and they were never meant to celebrate alone either. Teniqua you walked into sunday knowing what you needed, who you needed around you, and how you deserved to be treated. And that is exactly the kind of mother your children are watching and learning from every single day. We celebrate you Teniqua. All of us. 🧡🫖 In honor of Frances Marie Williams. @Teniqua Spence

So now that we've established WHY you need to have this conversation let's talk about HOW. Because "just be honest" is not enough. You need actual language. And the language changes depending on how old your child is. Here is a starting place: AGES 2–5: Keep it simple and concrete. "When something dies it means their body stopped working and they are not coming back. But we believe that people who love God go to be with Him and they are not hurting anymore." Do not use sleep as a metaphor. Children this age can develop fear of going to sleep. AGES 6–9: They can handle a little more. "Death means the person's body stopped working completely and we won't see them here anymore. It is okay to feel sad. God tells us that for people who believe in Him, death is not the end they go to be with Him in heaven." Answer their questions directly. Don't shut them down. AGES 10–13: They are thinking about it more than you know. Open the door. "Have you ever thought about what happens when people die? I want to talk to you about what I believe and also hear what you think." Give them space to process. Their questions are not disrespect they are development. TEENS: Be real. "I know this is a heavy topic. But I would rather you hear this from me than figure it out alone. Death is part of life and I want you to have something solid to stand on when it comes around You do not have to have all the answers. You just have to be willing to sit in the question with them. God is not afraid of the hard questions. Neither should we be. 💬 Which age group is hardest for you to have this conversation with? Drop it below let's talk through it. ☀️ Tomorrow morning we are talking about Divorce and Family Separation what your child is carrying silently and how to help them carry it. Don't miss it.

Yesterday we celebrated the Everything Parent Award. 🧡 An award given to the parents who never gave up. The ones who showed up broken and loved anyway. The ones who healed while they were still raising. The ones who carried things in silence that nobody will ever fully know. The ones who prayed through seasons that made no sense and trusted God when the outcome was not clear. We celebrated globally. But more than a celebration, we made a declaration. We stood together, from different cities, different homes, different stories, different scars, and we declared out loud that God has not failed us yet. Not in the sleepless nights. Not in the hard seasons. Not in the moments we felt like we were losing. Not in the generational cycles we had to fight to break. Not once. He has not failed us yet. And He never will. That is what this day is really about. Not just honoring how far we have come. But declaring with full confidence where we are going. To every parent who celebrated yesterday I see you. I honor you. And I am so proud to stand beside you. In honor of Frances Marie Williams. 🧡