Detacho families?

Dear brothers in the Lord, a few days ago I found something that caught my attention deeply, saddened me, and that leads me to think what are we doing Catholics to defend the concept of family that God wants us to have. I have always believed that toys help children to learn and prepare them for life but for a life with values ​​and virtues. Well, Mr. Ben Forman (www.benformandesign.co.uk) thinks differently, he has introduced a new dollhouse to “help” today’s modern preschooler prepare for the inevitable unhappy changes in her family structure.  It’s called Detacho. Detacho families, like so many contemporary families, can reconfigure themselves, either expanding with the birth of new siblings, or separating into smaller groups of married or divorced or cohabiting adults and their complacent children.  And Detacho dollhouses meet the need—transforming from a single-family home with its smiling parents into two or even three smaller units, able to house new stepparents and stepsiblings, or two mommies, or to adapt to whatever the parents’ new living situation might be. Detacho mommies and daddies are sometimes happy, and then they are all kissy-face, attracted to one another. But sometimes the stress caused by daddy’s extramarital affair makes mommy so angry she’d like to starch his shorts.  Then, with a quick twist of the hairdo, smiling Detacho mommy turns into frowning, unhappy Detacho mommy.  And thanks to the magnets implanted inside their skulls, smiling Detacho mommy and daddy can kiss, but frowning. Mr. Forman thinks it’s good to prepare children for the harsh reality of divorce. With Detacho, children can project their feelings onto the play scene.  They can practice feeling lonely and scared, and waving goodbye to daddy and his new girlfriend.  They can play at getting along with a bossy new big brother who has just moved in.  They can hide from mommy’s new boyfriend, who’s always checking the fridge for another beer… My question is simple: how far have we come?  What we have come to: doll houses for divorce? Questions that demand our attention and our action. What are we teaching our children? ■ Fr. Agustín, Pastor.