I was lying in bed this morning, contemplating getting up, when L hopped in and asked, “Mama?  Why don’t I have school today?”  I replied that it was Martin Luther King Jr Day.   “Who’s that?” she asked.

Hmm.  How to explain the civil rights movement in kindergarten terms and under 5 minutes (about how long I had before she moves on to something else…)?

First, I started with this.  “Well, remember your friend, ___ at school?  A long time ago you wouldn’t have been able to go to the same school…”

“Oh!  Because she’s full day and I’m half day?” 

I decided to go a different direction.  Why explain prejudice to somebody who doesn’t have it?

Basically, I told her that what we do is more important than what we look like.

“How we are on the inside, Mama?”

“Yep.”