Self-Portrait of Ceilidh

This is Ceilidh - as she sees herself. An assignment at school that has brought forth the topic of identity in our household. As a mother of bi-ethnic, bi-racial children, I haven't truly given much thought to how my children might view themselves, or how they would fit into the much larger community outside the comforts of our home. Perhaps I've been too wrapped up in potty-training, teaching the children to read and do arithmetic, trying to keep track of when book orders and milk orders are due, and trying to figure out who has outgrown what. In other words, the everyday minutae of living has overpowered the need to reflect on the changing face of our society. Or perhaps I've never seen the need to discuss identity with my kids. We live in a very multicultural community. There are faces in every colour of the rainbow in my children's classes. They learn about all the various holidays in all the religions and cultures represented in their school. Unlike myself, who attended a very "white" school and whose yellow skin and black hair stuck out like a sore thumb, my kids seem to blend in very well.
Devlin is quite proud that he is half-Korean, and is now taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. He also announced that having scoured all of the reference books at the library, he has not found a single mention of Korean New Year, which means we must be part of a yet undiscovered tribe. I had to sadly break his bubble and explain that Korean New Year is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year, which is really the start of the lunar new year.
Back to the self-portrait. Ceilidh has indicated the stick figures are her family of six, and that "ABC" refers to the fact that she loves school. Unfortunately, she mistakenly drew the Japanese flag to represent her Korean heritage ( a huge taboo in certain parts of the world today). So, I hastily found a picture of the Korean Tae-Guk-Gi to show her. But what I found most interesting was how she saw her bi-ethnic self - a mix of black and brown hair and yellow-toned skin! (And she's the most mixed looking of the four.) She is also true Canuk at heart, as evidenced by the maple leaf on her and surrounding her.
And judging by the line above her head, I don't think my daughter has an issue with self-esteem.