[shanpine]

Today when I picked Ethan up from his pre-K class he couldn't stop telling me about "signs" they had to follow. Apparently when they got to school, the teacher (and I think this was SUCH a cool idea!) had hung up a "NO BOYS ALLOWED" sign at the computer station, a "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" sign at the center play area, etc. I asked E how this made him feel, when he couldn't play at the computer just because he was a boy. "I was sad. And mad," he replied. The teacher told me she had used these signs and feelings to lead into a discussion of MLK and the amazing things he did. Soooo.

When we got in the car I decided to try and continue this deep conversation with my 5 year old. We had gone to see a movie last week, so I asked him how he would feel if he got to the movies and they told him he couldn't come in because of the color of his skin. He didn't quite get it.. (remember, we live in a SMALL town that is really pretty darn near all caucasian!)....so I tried to explain that some people didn't like other people because their skin was different colors. Darker, lighter, more tan, etc. (never saying "black" or "white"). He got very quiet for a moment....then asked me, "Well...maybe the movie people wouldn't like me, right? Because under my skin I'm really black?" I kind of got wide eyed, thinking he was saying something totally prophetically mature, like how we're all the same underneath or something (although I don't know why he chose the color "black"). So I said, "what do you mean under your skin, buddy?" And he said, "Well...you know....I really AM Batman."