Bi And Large

Just a few gems from the past couple days, to show you what I live with.

 

This morning, I woke up and stumbled out into the kitchen looking for coffee. I kissed Pete good morning and Iris piped up from the breakfast table over her Cheerios, mid-smooch, "What IS this, some kind of wedding???"

 

Last night we were eating dinner and she was contemplating her cucmber. She ate a cucumber seed and asked if they were healthy to eat. We said yes and then started to talk about how funny Iris is, that at 2 she thinks about nutrition (and enjoys ice cream, too!) She chimed right in with her own thoughts: "You know what would be really healthy for you AND good? Radish Vanilla ice cream." Ummmm maybe not so much on the good. And probably not the healthy either, but she does get the concept!

 

My favorite moment:

 

An hour or so ago, Amy and I were snuggling together. We were talking about Martin Luther King, Jr., and about who he was and why she had the day off tomorrow. We talked about segregation, and about how black people and white people couldn't live together, or get married, or take the bus to school together, or even eat in a restaurant together. And that was wrong, so this very smart and brave man MLK started speaking out about it, and he got the laws changed. And then someone who believed black people didn't deserve to be like white people was so very angry about it that they shot him and killed him. But we remember what he did for our country and his good ideas about all people being treated equally, so we have a holiday to remember. Amy thought about it for a minte, and then she started to say, "Well, I know that sometimes, black people..."

 

And I braced myself for a stereotype. Because really, we do live in a pretty white rural suburb, even if her school is ethnically mixed. And she is only 5, and maybe she has picked up on midwestern judgement and racism. What would she say? Sometimes black people steal? Swear? Shoot guns? Smoke marijuana? Go to jail?

 

"Sometimes, black people are the President."

 

I smiled and nodded. And I admit, I cried just a little. Tuesday is going to be a truly excellent day.