From a Place of Innocence

My daughter had her last Google Meet with her second-grade class today.  She wasn't too concerned about it, because the same class she's in this year was the same for Kindergarten and first grade and those students will continue on with her until fifth grade.   There were some sad goodbyes earlier for friends who were moving and going to other schools but for now, it's just a longer "track out" for her than the normal breaks between quarters.

Well, it's been a much longer break from seeing her friends due to COVID-19, but she's seen them on calls and hasn't felt like they were gone.   Today, there was a surprise guest on their last call of the year.   My daughter guessed it was their third-grade teacher who was coming on to introduce herself to her students for next year.

When it was my daughter's turn to introduce herself to her teacher, she said a few things and then her current teacher asked her to tell about the big calendar project she'll be working on this summer.   She explained she was adding birthdays and anniversaries.   She said she had a list of holidays too, including even National Pizza Day.   And then, just when she sounded done, she added, "I even have Black Day, too!"

She was proud of this, and for a minute I was too.   She has been shielded from the negative side of things that have been happening.  We have spoken about some of the positive things about equality and the need to treat people as equals.   I had this strange thought in the back of my head though that she wasn't talking about what I thought she might mean, mostly because I remembered what holidays she'd picked and while there's a month in February, there's no one specific day named Black...oh...wait...

I leaned into the call and said, "she means 'Black Friday'".   The two teachers and I chuckled over this because it's one syllable difference and to my daughter, it's just a name with the concept of retail madness having no bearing on her at this age.   My daughter's words came from a place of innocence, and with that in mind, it was rather cute."

The Big Boy Update:  My son has not been shielded as much as his sister because he can read top news on the Alexa Show in the kitchen.   We've had to do more explaining to him.   One thing he said was that he's had a best friend that was colored, ever since he was one.   I asked him, "and have you ever thought about that as meaning anything?  Does it matter what color Rayan is?"  My son immediately replied, "no."   I told him that was the whole point.   I told him that not everyone felt that way.   I spoke about Martin Luther and how that wasn't that long ago in years and how there was slavery before that.   We've come a long way, but we needed more people thinking like he did so we could achieve true equality.   He listened,  he understood I think.   Then, just like things are with children, he wanted to know if he could watch Power Rangers now?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My mother is now playing board games with my daughter on the phone.   My daughter started this just the other day.   My mother was told to create a four by ten grid on a piece of paper.   She then told her where there were treasures, traps, and other things on the board.   Not all places were used, which my mother thought might have been parts not included in the board map.   Then they started to play.   My daughter had the whole game planned out.   My mother let her know where they landed.   They haven't finished the game yet.  I wonder who will win?  Will my daughter remember an additional rule that will somehow cause her to win?  I wonder...