In our post, Where Did the Calendar Come From?, we discuss how the calendar is the perfect tool for celebrating certain moments while preparing for tougher ones. For honoring each person in the family who is connected to your child and to you. And to ensure you're making time each month to talk with intention about adoption and differences of race, culture, and class.
In this post we discuss how best to incorporate the calendar and your Transracial Journeys Conversation Cards into your monthly routine.
Transracial Journeys Conversation Cards
Unless otherwise specified, the questions on each card are designed for the children to ask the adults/grown-ups. Here is a suggested weekly breakdown for using the cards each month.
Week 1: Parents prepare and reflect.
- Read the parent tips for the month.
- Using the activity deck, review the month’s theme and prompts
- Check-in with any emotions that come up for you and discuss with your partner, a trusted friend, or loved one
- Be intentional when thinking about the best time to create the family ritual
Week 2: Pick card 1. Child reads/leads discussion
Week 3: Pick card 2. Child reads/leads discussion
Week 4: Pick card 3. Child reads/leads discussion and close out the month with any insights, challenges and new ideas for the next month.
Parents/Grown-ups: Read these tips before you jump in with the young people entrusted to you:
- Explore the calendar and deck on your own and think about the prompts/questions - maybe even write a few things down
- Have conversations with other trusted grown-ups first and anticipate any questions that may come from the children/young people
- Be sure you are centered and ready before diving into the conversations
- If you already have these kinds of conversations with children/young people, challenge yourself to take it to the next level
- Explain to children their role and how they will be able to ask questions to you as their parent
Tips
- Notice how you felt before, during, and after the conversations
- Notice any conversations that come up within a couple of days after you have your family “calendar time” and maybe even send yourself a calendar reminder to check in with your kids in a few days - “I was just thinking about how (insert feeling here) it felt to talk to you about (insert topic here) and wondered how you were feeling?
- If your kids want to skip a month or a week, give grace but you, as parents/grown-ups, should still make the effort to explore the questions/prompts without them
- If you are inspired, ask follow-up questions to keep the conversation going
This post is from our September, 2022, newsletter. If you would like to get our newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe.