Diversity?

So one of my clients gave me their notice last night. They were on a wait list for a center around here and they got a call that there was opening in September. Which is the good part...at least I got plenty of notice and I do appreciate that. Only thing that is bothering me....is their reason for leaving. I'll give it to you straight; we are all white, DCB and his family are black. She said one of the reasons she chose center care was because she thought there would be more "diversity"....m y first thought is WTF? DCB is very happy here and adjusting so well, but she is yanking him out because of skin color? Honestly I don't know what to think. Goes to show racism goes both ways, although maybe calling racism is harsh, I don't know.

Adding to that is my frustration that I feel I am the "wait list daycare" around here. I am a French/French immersion daycare so I cater mostly to French Canadians and they definitely seem to prefer center care. As soon as something opens up they yank their happy child out of here and they are gone. I bumped into one of my old clients actually and he had said how difficult the transition was for their daughter when they left me and went to the local center ( she never cried ONCE with me, in fact she would cry because she didn't want to leave). Which leaves me scratching my head as to why these parents leave in the first place?!?! It's frustrating...i have two spots that I have been filling every six months for the past while and though I am thankful I don't have too much difficulty filling them because I am the only french daycare around, it's sucks to have to do that much transitioning and never see your group age together.

And this one, leaving because of diversity...hmmm I don't know :no:

I kind of understand why they would think that and I don't think it was meant in any negative way towards you or that fact that you are Caucasian and they are not. When I first came to Canada my kids went to school with people of multiple cultural backgrounds, obviously being Canada, but also of different race and I loved it. 4 years on we moved to a smaller town for the fact that we lived in a semi next to the neighbour from hell and to move to a detached house within the city and my kids school boundary would have cost us close to 200k more at the time. The town we live in now is much smaller and the minority races can be missed if you blink, they are almost non existence. I don't think this is detrimental to my children's upbringing but if I am honest, I miss them being surrounded by people from Africa, Asia and other places like they were in the city. I have tried my best to raise them to be anti-oppressive and as immigrants ourselves they have had a very different childhood so far than say me for example, growing up in the UK where racism is like a disease. Anyway, I guess what I am getting at is that perhaps this woman wants her children to be around diversity to prevent them from feeling like a minority. Maybe it is a good thing or a bad thing that she pulled them, but she is likely doing what she feels is best, which will likely be from her experience so I wouldn't think bad of her and don't think it is racist. I don't necessarily think there would be an easy way to explain this to someone, but while there shouldn't be an issue with the colour of skin, there still is and a mother will simply do what she feels is best for her children and I respect that. As a white person, I have no first hand idea what it must be like to be a minority in a predominantly white society so I can only hazard a guess based on what I have seen.

I am really sorry about that fun and care.

There was a stint there too where I felt that I was a "waitlist dayhome," and of course nobody was being the least bit honest about it..Oh well A plus! (say that with a french accent lol, my first language was French) But is soon remedied and I got f/t clients. As for the diverse thing...For a while I had one mom who thought that her boy was being singled out because he was the only "white one"

We are strange (some) I could care less as long as it is a client....

Comme je dis toujours .... Les gens vont chercher par eux-mêmes d'abord ... Parfois pour de mauvaises raisons.

I hope that makes sense, my writing in french is sometimes subpar because its been so long.

I hear you! I have also felt like the "wait list daycare" for awhile now too. It just seems like parents are so quick to go to a different daycare if the grasser looks somewhat greener. I know it is terrible to say this but I always hope they have a bad experience and realize how good I was! I have had the satisfaction of hearing a few did lol.

As for pulling a child because there was more diversity in the center - oh well so be it. I don't understand why a parent would move a child when they are happy where they are for any reason really. oh well

Yes, for the most part I think I feel like honestly, I don't know what it's like to be in the minority, so what do I know? But there is that other part of me that feels like it's a bit of an insult for her to leave because she was the minority...she has only been here since January, how does she know that I may have signed on another "minority" child? Bleh...I don't want to brood over this too much, I can't always put myself in others shoes, but it sure has got me scratching my head.

@mickyc yep I have had the satisfaction to hear that the grass ain't always greener lol and this one family agreed to be one of my references and gave me RAVE reviews so much so that the person I was interviewing at the time was really impressed and talked to me about this review at length lol....it's just weird!!!

@dodge Merci!

One thing you could consider, that might help, is bringing more diversity into your daycare in other forms. Could that help? This is a concern I've had in the past and have been conscious of not coming across too 'WASPY', which our previous town was. I'm trying hard to bring in cultural diversity by way of books, activities, discussions and toys. When I'm planning a trip, we discuss where I'm going, I show them on a map and we look at pictures and things about the area. Often, I'll also make a food to go along as well. When I return, there's always something to show and often a little trinket to take home. I've been trying to teach the the Hakka from my trip to NZ, but so far, it's a little painful. I also found some really great baby dolls on ebay! I'm getting some of them from different ethnic backgrounds...they'r e really cool!

That's a great suggestion cfred, you made me realize I could get a few different dollies as sure enough, the ones we have are all Caucasian...thx! Although I have plenty of diversity among my little people figurines at least :)

The diversity issue, I get. That I completely understand.

I can't see why they would pull a settled child from a french hdc to a french centre... and that would have me frustrated, too, unless they were upfront about them being on a waitlist with you?

The only thing I can think of is that some parents may think that the centre has a certain "prestige" and want their children enrolled there simply because of that.

I don't know. It was brought up once to me during an interview, that the family was looking for a temporary spot until an opening became available in the centre of their choice. I thanked them for their honesty but didn't accept them for many other reasons.

I also have a number of books depicting other family models outside the nuclear, showing diversity of race, age, sexuality and ability. I don't make a big deal out of it so as to try and respect parent's choices but I make it a normal part of my program and available to all children in the hopes that they will at least develop tolerance and differences and an open and anti oppressive opinion towards others....at least to the extent a child can at this point. As soon as I show parents pictures of how happy their sons are playing with dolls they pretty much all go out and buy one for their son to have at home. I think that at least is becoming more common. My group is all boys right now and there are just days where I will lose my mind if I see any more cars lol but no matter what, a boy can make an automobile out of anything. Last time we had the dolls out, my 2 1/2 dcb was pretending his doll was a plane lol cutest thing ever.

@ nschildcare no it was not clear from the beginning that they were on a wait list. Moving forward I am going to try really hard to do more screening but still there is only so much we can do. This dcm told me just a few weeks into her son being here that she had an interview at a centre where he had been on a wait list. Which honestly I didn't need to know and I didn't really appreciate the fact that she told me she was shopping around while I was hard at work transitioning her child :mad: although I do appreciate the ample notice, sometimes I have found she just says odd things sometimes.

I am thinking now too that I can understand trying to be more sensible towards having more "diverse" materials, I am open to that but at the same time I don't think that would have been a deal breaker since it's really not like dcm would actually see any of this material on a day to day...

All I see when I think of a daycare center is a giant room full of kids everywhere and I don't see how that is the better bargain and how that is more "elite" but hey it's a personal preference I guess. Making something into an institution makes it better apparently!

I have a funny story actually. I had a boy in my care for a year. He was a handful (I mentioned in a different thread how his parents worked non-stop and he was starved for attention whether good or bad). He was hard to handle and took up a lot of my time and energy. Looking back he took so much out of me and away from my group. I cut our art/crafts down to once a week because he was so exhausting. The funny thing is his parents took him to a center so that he would have more of a pre-school type setting with more arts/crafts/learning type environment. Funny thing is once he left my care I had so much more time to do those types of things with my group and actually enjoy doing it again. I felt so sorry for the girls in that center lol!!

I can understand this dc mom in a way. My kids are biracial and when I had them in daycare I looked for a daycare with a mix of races/ethnicities. I felt it was important for them not to feel different or singled out during those early formative years when kids build their self-esteem and sense of self etc. I also worried about discriminatory comments being made, even unintentionally, by the provider or family or the other kids or my kids being made to feel different. It is often totally unintentional...a remark about their skin colour or their hair, etc...but can have lasting effects on a child and become part of how they see themselves. I am not saying you, Fun & Care, have made any such remarks or anything like that, but only that I can see where the mom is coming from. Racism is often very subtle, but all the little comments and remarks become part of the child's self image and the child begins to see himself/herself as different. Even small things like not seeing themselves reperesented in any dolls, books, posters, colouring sheets, etc can have a big impact.

My husband is black and from Africa, so my daughters are half black. I very much understand that mother's desire to have her child in a more diverse atmosphere. Dolls and books are great, but having actual children to play with that look like you is important too - especially when you are in the minority. I want my girls to feel like they belong in every sense. It made me feel a sense of relief when I visited my daughter's school that she will be attending this fall and saw that there were many different types of children there. My daughters have darker skin and much different hair than the other children in my care, and I feel it is important for them to be around other kids (and adults) that are like them so that I can help ensure that they can have a positive image of themselves and good self esteem.

I wouldn't take their departure personally, even though it does suck to lose them. I don't know if I would have made the same decision as they did, but they obviously felt it was important for their child's welbeing.

I have some of those books too...the ones about different family models. I also found a couple books at 10, 000 Villages called 'Mama Do You Love Me' and 'Papa Do You Love Me' depicting conversations between children and parents in Nunavut and Africa...very cute books. I've been recently getting into books about gender identity, which is kind of neat too. 'Can Princesses Wear Hiking Boots' is one I want, and 'My Little Boy Princess' (something along those lines). Also....at that same 10, 000 Villages shop, I got a bunch of really cool instruments from different countries and a wall hanging of children from different countries holding hands around the earth. It's made out of an oil drum in Haiti. There are lots of little things that can bring cultural diversity into your daycare, even if all your clients and you are Caucasian.

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Originally Posted by sunnydays

I can understand this dc mom in a way. My kids are biracial and when I had them in daycare I looked for a daycare with a mix of races/ethnicities. I felt it was important for them not to feel different or singled out during those early formative years when kids build their self-esteem and sense of self etc. I also worried about discriminatory comments being made, even unintentionally, by the provider or family or the other kids or my kids being made to feel different. It is often totally unintentional...a remark about their skin colour or their hair, etc...but can have lasting effects on a child and become part of how they see themselves. I am not saying you, Fun & Care, have made any such remarks or anything like that, but only that I can see where the mom is coming from. Racism is often very subtle, but all the little comments and remarks become part of the child's self image and the child begins to see himself/herself as different. Even small things like not seeing themselves reperesented in any dolls, books, posters, colouring sheets, etc can have a big impact.

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Yes, my girls constantly have strangers commenting on their hair and then often trying to touch it without asking first, which just makes them stand out as being different and a curiousity. These people don't realize they are the hundredth person to do so, and that it affects my girls' self image. So when they are around my husband's family or other biracial/black kids it is nice that they do not stand out. This is so hard to describe exactly how it feels, but having that sense of wholy belonging is such a good feeling.

Yes Amanda...I know exactly what you mean. People often have very good intentions...many times it is a positive comment...but they are still singling the kids out as different by remarking on these things...things they would not likely remark on on a white child. I do not take kindly to strangers touching my childrens' hair just because it is curly and they want to see how it feels. These are all little things in daily life, but they add up. That's why I can understnad the dc mom's decision.

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Originally Posted by sunnydays

Yes Amanda...I know exactly what you mean. People often have very good intentions...many times it is a positive comment...but they are still singling the kids out as different by remarking on these things...things they would not likely remark on on a white child. I do not take kindly to strangers touching my childrens' hair just because it is curly and they want to see how it feels. These are all little things in daily life, but they add up. That's why I can understnad the dc mom's decision.

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It's funny you should comment on the compliments that people make about your children's hair and touching it. My children are Caucasian and my daughter has red spiral curly hair. Comments are made about it constantly wherever we go and when she was much younger people would stroke it, SERIOUSLY!! People would always comment when we were out as a family that she didn't look like either of us...way to go genius!! Now she doesn't have the racial obstacles being white, if that's how I can describe it correctly, of feeling accepted and akin to her peers. I don't compare my daughters experience to yours as the same thing but just an example of how children crave unbeknownst to us for acceptance and quite often don't like to be singled out, even for things that are uniquely beautiful or any other reason. My daughters personality would have her reaction be to be very upset that people would constantly comment on her hair, and it got to the point where if anyone approached her she would pull back in revolt. She learnt after many years that these people meant no harm and just simply thought it was beautiful. I tried to teach her to accept the compliment but to know that it was perfectly okay to use her voice to politely ask people not to touch her and when people paid her a compliment instead of letting it get to her to show gratitude and thank them. I just wanted to point out that while this isn't quite the same thing, I can only imagine what it must be like for your kids as it was tough on me to see my daughter feel so awkward about her appearance.

I remember my son putting me on the spot in a food court when he was 3. We were in the line up and I'm just paying attention to my son, not looking at anyone else and suddenly he exclaims, "Oh my goodness mummy, look at how black that mans face is!" Thank God I was ready for it, don't quite know how but I was. I immediately turned to him and replied to him that we are all unique and different looking. I noticed that this man had a young boy with him and I said to my son, "maybe that little boy thinks you are funny looking because you are so pale looking. That's what makes our world so great that we all look different on the outside but we are all the same on the inside." The man looked at me out of the corner of his eye and smiled at me, it was like a secret high five and I was actually happy that my son said what he said because it was an amazing teaching opportunity. He did nothing wrong and didn't deserve scoulding, but it seems to have stuck with him because now he always comes home and tells me about the kids who are picked on for being different and how he speaks up for them and hates bullies....."They are so dumb Mom!" Proud mom of my boy :)

Brightsparks, I have had many people tell me that I don't look anything like my girls, and had people ask where I "got them" (as in I must have adopted them). So I know how you feel, it hurts to have that said to you when you know that you created them. But I know they are wrong, it just isn't as obvious as having the same colour hair.

This might sound ridiculous, let me know if it does,but I sort of understand the whole being "different" thing. I have freckles, and a LOT of them and boy did I get teased when I was younger and made to feel different on a daily basis. Try having kids at school calling you sh*t face everyday...yep:rolle yes: but did my mom take me out of school and try to find a school with more freckled kids? Of course not. Did my mother in law do the same for my husband because he was super short throughout his childhood and got teased for that on a daily basis a well? Of course not!

All this ethical stuff is hurting my brain!

I have books with different people, different families, people with disabilities etc. It is really hard to find multi-cultural dolls though around here! I found some at Ikea but honestly, they looked scary to me! lol. (just made cheaply so the faces were "off")I found an African-American doll in the States awhile back. She is beautiful!! Unfortunately, my dck's NEVER play with her!! She gets stepped on, arms broke off, her head and one leg has had to be glued back on and she is always just left in the middle of the floor. If I only have a couple dolls out and everyone wants a doll no one will pick her! I was actually kinda concerned about this behaviour because I truly do believe that no child is born racist. However, I have come to the conclusion that they just don't want to play with her because she is "different".

Well fast forward a bit.....I have a child come into my care who is African-American. I have to be honest and say that I was a little worried as to how the kids would react to him. I have all caucasion children except for one who is Native Amercian (but he's really pale skinned so a child wouldn't even know this). They have all been fantastic and play well with him though....well except for one child but he doesn't play with any of the boys, he prefers girls lol.

I can kinda understand why a parent would want more children around them that are the "same" but not really. Here, I now have 3 different races but they are so young that I don't think colour matters to them. I think once they get older they would benefit from being around same races but I don't think I would want to take my child out of a dc that they are doing well in just because of race. That's just me though....like we said in another thread, parents parent differently and will do what they think is best for their child.

Once again though I think that this is just a very personal decision. I understand being bullied, believe me more than you know, but to compare being bullied for freckles by a select few to discrimination at large is not the same. Now I want to be clear that bullying of any kind and for any reason is damaging so I'm down playing that at all. That wasn't really my understanding of why they moved their child anyway, It wasnt because the child was discriminated against but simply that the parent wanted a different childcare setting that they thought would offer a more diverse setting for their child which really with larger numbers likely would. Yes some parents wouldn't move their child out of a setting they were settled into but this is really just a case of different people wanting different things and that is fair enough whether we agree with it or not.

Here are a couple that I've found on Ebay. There are much, much nice ones on Amazon.com, but they don't deliver to Canada. I'm currently waiting for anyone I know in the US to visit, so I can have them delivered to their place. It's almost impossible to find dolls of different ethnic backgrounds here. I have the same IKEA dolls 5LM mentioned.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/JC-Toys-La-Ba...3b9bdfa&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NEW-JC-Toys-L...eb0704c&_uhb=1

Oh I might have to consider buying some dolls online!!

Cfred...do your Ikea doll faces look a little off or was it just the ones I saw? lol

I can understand what your saying Fun & Care, sometimes when a family isn't upfront with you and only considers your care a "short term solution" to the actual childcare plan is insulting no matter what reason they give you, especially if that child required special attention or had a difficult transition overall. You have ever right to feel miffed, and the diversity excuse might have been (in their view) an easy letdown as they had that plan all along to leave once the daycare spot opened up.

Hahaha, yes 5LM, the Ikea dolls are awful! I got them because that was all I could find! I ended up using one of them to do a circle about my upcoming surgery (before I had it) so it's all stitched up. We have a lot here now to give the impression of diversity, but I'd like to get the dolls. Will have to wait a bit as I just spent a couple hundred on books.

OK good. (well not good, lol. it would be nice if the Ikea dolls didn't look so funny haha)

I recently bought a quad stroller and this weekend I am picking up a playhouse for outside (both used :) ) so I have to wait on ordering the dolls too!

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Originally Posted by Fun&care

This might sound ridiculous, let me know if it does,but I sort of understand the whole being "different" thing. I have freckles, and a LOT of them and boy did I get teased when I was younger and made to feel different on a daily basis. Try having kids at school calling you sh*t face everyday...yep:rolle yes: but did my mom take me out of school and try to find a school with more freckled kids? Of course not. Did my mother in law do the same for my husband because he was super short throughout his childhood and got teased for that on a daily basis a well? Of course not!

All this ethical stuff is hurting my brain!

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I'm sorry, but comparing freckles to race is not the same thing at all. Like I had said, it is really hard to describe. And it isn't about being bullied or having racist remarked said, but a deeper sense of self that isn't visible on a superficial level.

It is also difficult to understand when you are white, I never thought about these things when I was growing up. These things weren't really a part of my life in any real way until I married my wonderful husband and we had our children.

I have the IKEA dolls and while the "races" of the dolls don't appeal to me they appease parents at interviews and my daycare kids love them. I especially like that even though they are stuffed they can be posed with the legs and arms turned to suit what the kids want. I also get the impression that the faces were done to make the dolls ageless in the sense of they can be a baby or a toddler depending on how you dress them and use them. I just keep my feelings out of it and let the kids enjoy their dolls.

The problem with racial stereotypes and racism is that it is everywhere and all around you. It is on TV, in books, portrayed in toys, and comes from people in the community as well. While bullying is very hurtful and can certainly have lasting effects on anyone who has been victim to it, it really is not the same thing. Racism is systemic. Racial identity begins very very early. My son has said many things at the age of 4-5 years old about race...generalizatio ns that he has made from what he has seen in his world. When he comes home talking about how people in Africa are starving and drinking dirty water (his teacher said so), it has a huge effect on his sense of identity as a child of African heritage. It is not that these things are untrue, but how often do they talk in school about positive things related to Africa or Africans? How often do the kids come home talking about the big modern cities in Africa and the kids who go to school every day and eat good food just like them? This is what I mean by systemic...the prevailing societal image of black people is overwhelmingly negative...whether it be poverty, gun violence, etc. Kids internalize this very early on and it is so important to fill them with pride and confidence in who they are from a young age. I know I have gone a bit off on a tangent from the OP's question about diversity...but this is actually an important topic that I feel very strongly about.

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Originally Posted by sunnydays

The problem with racial stereotypes and racism is that it is everywhere and all around you. It is on TV, in books, portrayed in toys, and comes from people in the community as well. While bullying is very hurtful and can certainly have lasting effects on anyone who has been victim to it, it really is not the same thing. Racism is systemic. Racial identity begins very very early. My son has said many things at the age of 4-5 years old about race...generalizatio ns that he has made from what he has seen in his world. When he comes home talking about how people in Africa are starving and drinking dirty water (his teacher said so), it has a huge effect on his sense of identity as a child of African heritage. It is not that these things are untrue, but how often do they talk in school about positive things related to Africa or Africans? How often do the kids come home talking about the big modern cities in Africa and the kids who go to school every day and eat good food just like them? This is what I mean by systemic...the prevailing societal image of black people is overwhelmingly negative...whether it be poverty, gun violence, etc. Kids internalize this very early on and it is so important to fill them with pride and confidence in who they are from a young age. I know I have gone a bit off on a tangent from the OP's question about diversity...but this is actually an important topic that I feel very strongly about.

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My husband's family was one of those that lived in a big city, they all went to university and his father was a prominent lawyer. Life is not great in many ways in Congo and most of his family chose to immigrate to Canada for a better life, but not everyone lives the life shown in Unicef commercials.

But I had wanted to share this article I came across, has a very interesting perspective...

http://livingformations.com/2013/08/...on-white-kids/

In my daycare, I've just chosen not to focus on race in any specific way. We all are the way we all are....that's it. I have one little boy who is Cuban/Italian and a little girl who is Chinese/Thai. The only ways we acknowledge our differences are when a child brings in something (particularly over holidays) to share with the group. I will also introduce other customs into the daycare from other cultures. We don't tend to focus on starving children, rather the things in another culture that show that we all like to celebrate. Just like families, we all have our own traditions. If it involves food, especially, it is a big hit and very well received by the kids.

I honestly didn't think the kids were really even noticing differences between their appearances, but I was wrong (except at diaper changes....a WHOLE other kettle of fish). My nephew comes here and his mum told me they were looking in a book. He saw a picture of a little Chinese boy and said 'he looks like ****' and the little Caucasian boy looked like him. And that was it....no questions....it just was. I thought it was very cute and I was happy to hear that. MUCH cuter and less embarrassing than when my daughter, at 3 yrs selected, loudly, in the crowded department store, the 'cholocolate Berbie'......wanted the earth to swallow me whole :blink:

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Originally Posted by cfred

In my daycare, I've just chosen not to focus on race in any specific way. We all are the way we all are....that's it. I have one little boy who is Cuban/Italian and a little girl who is Chinese/Thai. The only ways we acknowledge our differences are when a child brings in something (particularly over holidays) to share with the group. I will also introduce other customs into the daycare from other cultures. We don't tend to focus on starving children, rather the things in another culture that show that we all like to celebrate. Just like families, we all have our own traditions. If it involves food, especially, it is a big hit and very well received by the kids.

I honestly didn't think the kids were really even noticing differences between their appearances, but I was wrong (except at diaper changes....a WHOLE other kettle of fish). My nephew comes here and his mum told me they were looking in a book. He saw a picture of a little Chinese boy and said 'he looks like ****' and the little Caucasian boy looked like him. And that was it....no questions....it just was. I thought it was very cute and I was happy to hear that. MUCH cuter and less embarrassing than when my daughter, at 3 yrs selected, loudly, in the crowded department store, the 'cholocolate Berbie'......wanted the earth to swallow me whole :blink:

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You had me laughing out loud at that last part about the Barbie, too funny!

I have a bit older crew and it has come up on a regular basis about the differences in skin colour and stuff. So when it comes up I take advantage of the opportunity and talk matter of factly about how our skin is different colours and we compare. I think when young kids get exposed to it and have the opportunity to talk about it you would be surprised how much they notice.

There is a really good picture book called 'Colour of Us', that is all about describing the skin colour of different people in a little girl's neighbourhood because she realizes that when she tries to paint pictures of everyone that she can't just use one shade of beige or brown.

This has turned into a great conversation. Thanks for your input ladies, you've given me lots to think about.:D

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Originally Posted by AmandaKDT

You had me laughing out loud at that last part about the Barbie, too funny!

I have a bit older crew and it has come up on a regular basis about the differences in skin colour and stuff. So when it comes up I take advantage of the opportunity and talk matter of factly about how our skin is different colours and we compare. I think when young kids get exposed to it and have the opportunity to talk about it you would be surprised how much they notice.

There is a really good picture book called 'Colour of Us', that is all about describing the skin colour of different people in a little girl's neighbourhood because she realizes that when she tries to paint pictures of everyone that she can't just use one shade of beige or brown.

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That sounds like a terrific book!

That does sound like a good book! I'm going to add that to the list. There are soooo many things I want for my daycare, but not enough money to do it all at once. I have a teacher friend who's doing her 4 over 5 next year. She and her hubby are traveling the world. I've asked if she can keep an eye out for really good toys from different regions that she could ship back to me. Not tonnes of them, but some. Then these kids can see what children in other places do for fun. I have a large wicker basket full of all the instruments (our Sharing Basket)...could totally do the same thing with little toys.

Fun&Care, there are soooo many ways to bring diversity into your daycare, even if you're a houseful of Caucasians. Planting little things all over your space and including other races in some of your themes....their traditions, etc. I would like (but haven't sorted it yet) to do 1 country/month. Not a full time focus, rather, they see where it is on a map, maybe we look some stuff up online about their clothing, lives, etc, have some of the food and maybe, if I can really get my s^%t together, throw some articles of clothing in the dress up bin. It might be nice to learn a little song or dance from some of the places. Soooo many ways :)