posted by John Borst

One reality Catholic teacher’s face in their classrooms is the diversity of family arrangements. The Bishops of Canada and their representatives, parish clergy, seem to understand this reality and appreciate that it is a fact-of-life beyond the school or the Church to regulate.

There is, however, a new reality which the Bishops have not yet accepted. Catholic teachers now face and will continue to face with increasing frequency, the presence of “two moms” or “two dads” whether this is in a same sex-relationship, a remarriage relationship, or a mother-grandmother/father-grandfather parenting team.

I bring this to Tomorrow Trust readers attention because Dana Rudolph, a lesbian mom, has written a very interesting review of a new CD Someone’s Gotta Wanna Play by children recording artists Erin Lee Kelly and Marci Applebaum . Kelly told Rudolph part of her motivation stemmed from the fact she was “the only kid in my Catholic school who had divorced parents, in a little tiny town in Ontario.”

In the song “Fine By Me,” Erin Lee Kelly and Marci Applebaum, write:

My family doesn’t look like the families do in picture books
And that’s fine by me
’Cause my family has a lot of love to give
We’re happy with the way we live
If you try more you’ll see
That you really aren’t that different from me

Kelly’s, perhaps intuitive Catholic sense that we are all made in the image of Christ has real implications.

Kelly, explained it to Rudolph this way:

We’re trying to write songs that are hip and fun and kids can relate to, like ‘How do I get through second grade?’ as opposed to ‘How do I find a boyfriend?’”

Topics like baseball, haircuts and loose teeth make their songs relevant; but the pair go a step further. “We were working with kids from foster families, with kids who were dirt-poor with two parents in jail, living with grandma, with extremely wealthy children who never saw their parents but were living with their nanny,” Kelly explains. “We were trying to find things that spoke to everybody.” This meant the many existing songs with “mom and dad” in the lyrics wouldn’t do. ”Most of the kids we work with, whether they’re rich, whether they’re poor, whether they’re black, whether they’re white, don’t have mom and dad. It’s not that way anymore.”

The two took a different approach: “We leave the family either non-specific or we’ll mention a mom, or ‘Uncle Victor,’ or ‘Grandma,’” says Kelly. Applebaum clarifies that one song has a mom and dad, and another has a grandma and a grandpa, “because that’s a family also.” Kelly affirms, though, that most of the time they’ll mention “dad and a brother, or mom and an aunt, or a grandma. It doesn’t mean they don’t have other family members, it just means the kids can put in the rest of the family in their own heads.” The songs also use non-gender-specific names like Jamie, Chris, and Jessie, so children can decide the protagonist’s gender for themselves.

It helps that all the songs are first-person narratives from a child’s point of view. “We really want to give kids a voice,”

You can find Rudolph’s full review here or here.

You can access or purchase Kelly & Applebaum’s two albums at www.gottaplay.org.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites