Preschooler stunned mom claiming to be 'twins with a boy in his class'—her 'heart melted' when she saw a photo of them
Children are known to have the purest hearts and love that knows no boundaries or barriers. They give it their all when it comes to the people they love. A preschooler, Myles, was delighted to share with his mom, Britney Tankersley, how he thought he closely resembled another classmate. When he had Twin Day in class, he was bent on twinning with a particular young boy. His mom wondered who the child might be and got set to prepare matching outfits for Twin Day. When her son returned with a picture of him and his twin, she was taken aback. The simple yet powerful picture painted a much-forgotten aspect of love and pushed adults to see it from a different perspective.
The mom shared, “Late last night, Myles went on and on about how he had to be twins with a boy in his class for Twin Day.” He told his mother that he and the other boy had several matching features. He specified how the duo “look exactly the same — same eyes, same hair. He was adamant that they were identical,” the mom said. Giving in to his insistent enthusiasm, Tankersley decided to plan matching outfits for Myles and his classmate. She ended up getting red checkered shirts paired with black pants. When Twin Day was done, the teacher shared a picture of both boys posing together in their matching outfits.
The mom was taken aback when she saw the picture. “My heart melted,” she said, as the photo consisted of Myles and a black student who had different skin colors. However, their smiles, their eyes and a few features seemed to have a similarity — perhaps it was the joy they shared that knew no discrimination. They both loved equally and saw each other as nothing but two human beings. Children understand the concept of race and diversity to some extent from a young age. However, this diversity is not viewed as something negative or discriminatory. According to the American Psychological Association, teaching kids about race and why racism is cruel can be a big win.
Maysa Akbar, PhD, ABPP, APA’s chief diversity officer and interim chief of psychology in the public interest, noted, “Many people assume that children are not emotionally prepared or ready to handle the complexities of conversations around race, but the fact is that it’s never too early to engage kids in discussions about race and ethnicity.” She added that parents could start “conversations in a developmentally appropriate way, which prepares our children to face racism and deal with it constructively, using simple language and terms that children will understand.” Myles knew that his classmate was of another race, but it didn’t affect how he viewed him as a human being.
“Two very different children, but Myles didn’t see that,” the mom wrote. Her son’s perspective pushed her to rethink how she viewed the world. She concluded, “Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if we could all view it through the eyes of a couple of 5-year-olds?” The post warmed the hearts of several people. To see how the boy put love, enthusiasm and humanity before everything else and defeated racism so effortlessly was mesmerizing. Roxanne Jones wrote, “I love this. Melts my heart.” Renee Smith Cheeseman added, “What an awesome young man you have.” Shelby Adams said, “If only everyone could see people and everything this way.” Crystal Huffman Williams remarked, “This gave me chills! I love this so much.”