Adding a Rainbow Stripe to the Camper

This weekend, the boys and I did something kinda fun.

We gathered up a bunch of paint, put on some old clothes, and headed back to the camper playhouse in out backyard to add a little rainbow inside of it.

Why? Let’s chat about it.

You may have seen news about recent anti-gay/trans legislation in Texas, Florida, and elsewhere around the country. As a mom, a Christian, and a person who knows and loves people in the LGBTQ+ community, it breaks my heart to see so much hate being spread.

For me, it goes beyond the legislation, too. The other day I was at the playground with my kids and we overheard some other children referring to each other as “gay” in a derogatory way. I was so sad to hear it and had a hard time processing that that’s still a thing that’s happening. As soon as we got home, I talked with Jackson about what the word means, why it should never be used as an insult, and how he can respond if he hears it at school.

So, when my friend Charlotte reached out and told me she was gathering as many creators as she could to raise awareness and money to help spread some love for the LGBTQ+, it was a no-brainer for me. You can check out Charlotte’s instagram for more details on her #creatorssaygay campaign, but basically a bunch of us have donated and are sharing a project to help spread the word. If you’re interested in donating, check out Charlotte’s or my account for details, or you can just donate directly! We’re splitting all funds raised between The Trevor Project and ACLU, and every cent helps.

I took this as an opportunity to chat with my kids about how important it is to love and accept people for who they are. Jackson is reaching an age where he’s starting to see how cruel some kids can be, and I’m actively working on teaching him how to be an ally for the kids in his school that need a friend. As we painted, we talked about how we can stand up for kids that are being bullied at school, how we can choose our words carefully to make sure we aren’t hurting others, and how to specifically support LGBTQ+ individuals in our lives.

It was such a fun project to take on together, and I hope the time we spent working on this will stick with the kids for a long time.

I hope they’ll grow up to be people who show love and support to everyone they come across.

I hope they know that we’ll love them forever and ever, no matter who they are or who they become.

And I hope that someday their kindness and acceptance will make a difference for someone who doesn’t have that kind of love and support in their life.

I told Jackson that every time he looks at the stripes in the camper, I want him to be reminded how important it is to show love to everyone. Including (and maybe especially) the people who don’t look, think, or act like him.

We still need to do a good spring cleaning in the camper and spruce a few things up – this project was a great way to kick that off! Stay tuned in a few weeks for some updated photos of how it’s looking now, along with the full, detailed plans for how you can build one yourself!