This summer, my 2nd-4th graders are doing The Real Story of the Ugly Duckling, which instead of being about looking weird is about what makes a family. (Spoiler alert: Ursula Divine, the Ugly Duckling, realizes that even though she might really be a swan, the ducks raised her and love her, so that makes them a family.)
Two days into rehearsal, the boy playing Rothbart the Daddy Swan realizes that there is an actual girl playing Petra the Mama Swan. The following conversation happens.
ROTHBART: Do we have to be married?
ME: What do you mean?
PETRA: Do we have to, like, marry each other?
ME: Well, you have a family, right? Three swan kids?
ROTHBART & PETRA: Yeah...
ME: So, you can either be married, or you can just be two swans who like each other and are raising a family together.
ROTHBART & PETRA: (without a moment's hesitation) Yeah! We'll do that one!
PETRA: As long as we don't have to be married.
I think they've got the "all families are different" idea.
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