I’m adopted. I know plenty of people around my age who were adopted: Rodham’s sacred court case did not occur until I was 12, and abortion was not legalized in NZ until I was 19. No one said it was usual. There were adoption books. There were concerns about the consequences. And there was eventually reform of the adoption laws.

This is apparently not enough. A lesbian couple, to their horror, don’t see lesbian parents in a magazine for their toddler. And they are unhappy with the response from the magazine.

The publication released a second statement on Monday, October 17, apologizing for their initial response. “We want to reiterate that we believe all families matter. We know that there are many ways to build a family, and that love is the essential ‘ingredient,’” read the statement. “This conversation has helped us see that we can be more reflective of all kinds of families in our publications, We are committed to doing so as we plan future issues.”

Wertz and Desiderio were not moved. “[They’re] stopping short of a clear commitment to include LGBTQ families in the pages of their magazine,” Desiderio tells Us Weekly. “It is conservative, lacking in sincerity and fails to provide a clear path forward.”

But Desiderio hopes they will come around. “I want our daughter to grow up seeing her own two-mom family as nothing out of the ordinary,” the school nurse tells Us. “Not only do I want children’s literature to help my daughter feel ‘normal,’ I want it to help her feel proud. I want her to know how lucky is to be in a family with two moms.

No, Wertz and Desidero, it is not normal. There are still more adopted babies than two mom babies. It is unusual. You will not be able to protect your child from that, no more than I can protect my children from understanding that churchgoers are a minority in NZ.

As toddlers, they should be looking at early Richard Scary and the Very Hungry Caterpillar. They do not need to know about social justice, your virtue spiral, or the varieties of sexual experience. They do not yet know their right hand from their left.

Let the kids enjoy kids things. And if this magazine converges, use the old stuff: Enid Blyton and Thomas the Tank Engine.