It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and I made sure I set aside the time to do it today, even if it’s only a few minutes. Part of my desire to blog today is because I honestly miss the writing – stringing words together that become our story, to look back on for years to come. The other part is simply because I am so damn proud of my children.

They may still be drawn to the allure of toilet water. They may stay up way later than they should. They may need a punch-pass, train ticket style, for their trips to time out, but sometimes… Sometimes, they just get it right. Really right.

I love looking at the world through their eyes. I know this might sound like a cliche thing that parents say as their children are growing up, but it really holds true in my case. Everything is fascinating to them. While the question “WHY” is asked a million times a day and becomes annoying at times, I also acknowledge that this is how they learn. These little people that I made rely on me to know how the world works; to know what’s expected of them.

The kids were excited to have today off for Martin (or ‘Marvin’ according to Taylor) Luther King Jr’s Birthday, but they didn’t know what it really meant. I tried to break it down to their learning level, and interest level, knowing that I’d lose it if it wasn’t basic enough. I explained to them that MLK was a man who had darker skin and wasn’t treated fairly because of his skin color. He, and his family and friends of similar skin colors, were seen as different and thought to be not good people just because of how they looked. We talked about how many people with lighter color skin thought that they were better, and many of these light skinned people were not kind to others. We talked about good choices vs. not such good choices (something we do often around this house) and the kids decided on their own, that it’s not okay to treat someone different because of the way they look, skin or otherwise. Taylor was even quick to point out that both light skinned people and dark skinned people can be different from other people if they are in a wheelchair too, but even people in wheel chairs have the same insides and we should be nice to them. I love the way her mind works. We talked about content and character and appropriate actions toward people. When we talked about friends and what being a good friend meant, I asked if they had friends with different colored skin. This was something they really had to think about it. It honestly is not something that children just see. They choose their friends based on who is kind to them, who plays with them, etc. At the end of our conversation, the boys walked away saying “everyone has the same heart inside.” Clearly, I know there is much more depth to Martin Luther King Jr. and his dreams and legacy, but for explaining it to a six year old and two four year olds, I was happy with this take-away. They are compassionate and willing learners and I know they will do some good in this world.

This morning, we were enjoying our lazy pajama day. We watched movies, played with blocks, read books, and colored. When we were cleaning up the hundreds of crayons they had scattered about, I had an idea. I asked everyone to quickly grab three crayons that were ‘skin colored’ and bring them to me. I was eager to see what they came up with, and they did not disappoint. I truly believe that hatred is learned, and it’s something my kids are not taking part of. They might know a few four letter words that have slipped out of my mouth a time or two, but since these are the crayons they brought me, I think we’re doing alright.

True to her form, Taylor said “Mom, we all chose different skin colors because there are different people in this world. I wanted to choose a green crayon, but the only people I know that are green are witches and zombies and I don’t know if their insides are like ours because they aren’t so nice.”