Gray Malin: Not All Families Look Like Ours
Right now we’re playing Uno before bed. The kids love the colors and numbers and learn important life skills! We talk about winning and losing and practicing good sportsmanship. Before bed, we lay out their school clothes, and they always ask, “Daddy, can we pick out our outfits?!” Then we read a book and turn out the lights.
Breaking up monotony with travel and a real-life Lion King moment!
Every Wednesday they have swim lessons down at our local beach club. At 5 PM, after their lesson, we have dinner together there at a very family friendly restaurant. The kids are expressive about what they’ve been doing in school or during swim class. There’s such wonderful family connection and conversation in that moment and the kids love the more grown-up experience and routine of having a meal out together.
On weekends, we do family bike rides. The twins enjoy the freedom, and they’ll sing as they peddle around the neighborhood. For a while, their go-to was always the PAW Patrol theme song. They’d pretend they’re zooming off to help save the day! Along the way, we’ll stop by our neighbor’s orange tree and pick a couple and place them in the bike basket or we’ll hop in the car and go to the beach. It’s freeing to be among the expanse of sand and ocean.
So much of parenting is about routine, which is why traveling and getting to see a whale jump out of the water, or going snorkeling to see little fish swim in the big open sea, is so important for us. This year we braved the very long flight to South Africa, kids in tow. One morning during the trip, we watched a family of 80 meerkats come out of the ground at sunrise. The kids yelled, “Timon, Timon!” because it felt like the Lion King. Seeing the animals was a pinch-us moment. Every night when I start to turn my brain off in bed, I think of all the beautiful memories we made in Africa, which bring a smile to my face.
Our cardinal value as a non-traditional family: acceptance
Since we aren’t a traditional family with one mom and dad, we really try to instill the value of acceptance in our kids. They love having two dads, but the fact is that not all families look like ours, and we talk about that a lot with our young kids. We also want to encourage their instincts to help others. Our children take pride in running for a Band-Aid if someone has a boo-boo or cleaning up messes (even their own). We’re teaching them how to help and accept in small doses right now. We hope those values continue to grow with them as they venture into the world.
Gray Malin and Jeff Richardson are the right brain (creative) and left brain (logical) behind the eponymous lifestyle brand Gray Malin. They live with their twins, Max and Dove (5.5), in Los Angeles. Their interview appeared in It’s More Fun with You: 36 Families on the Everyday Magic of Raising Kids, a limited-edition book by Charmspring.
