What happens at the playground when Asian parents come to play

On the struggle to figure out what my parenting style is

On a recent Saturday afternoon, I took my kids out to play at a local playground, one that we fondly call, “the school yard,” situated behind an elementary school two blocks from our home. As we arrived, we saw two familiar faces — a little girl, whom I’ll call Lucy, and her father. Lucy lives with her parents and a younger sibling in an apartment around the corner of ours, but it wasn’t until the past three weeks when the weather has taken a turn for the better that I began to see the two of them at the playground. In the past, he would usually let her play by herself while he pushed a baby around in a stroller. This time, it was different.

On this particular day, there was no baby in a stroller, just Lucy and her dad. When we arrived, she was sitting on a pink and teal bike, fully equipped with knee pads and a sturdy helmet. She sat there solemnly while her dad glared at her from a distance.

Where we live, I don’t usually see Asian families with small children playing outside. My neighborhood is considered one of the most affluent neighborhoods in town, and the children that typically frequent the school’s playground are Caucasian children, sometimes Indian. For all the years that I’ve gone to this place, there’s hardly been any Asian children playing there on a regular basis. Because of this fact, Lucy and her dad piqued my interest. And what I witnessed…