Hard truth for a 7 year old.

My kids went back to daycare last week.  With a new job on the horizon we needed to be sure the childcare was consistent every day. They have been overjoyed to be back because they have missed having kids to play with.  I still get the guilt trip for ruining their lives by pulling them out of daycare before.

When I told the boys, Elijah said "if there are kids, then I'm in."   Isaiah just wanted to play.  And so far, they have fit right in and both of them are  
Happy Happy Happy.

Elijah, my social bug made a friend the first day- we'll call her Miss M.  He has talked non-stop about her and she quickly became his girlfriend. She's 8.

So when the boys were chatting at breakfast this morning about normal boy stuff, I wasn't expecting it.  I never am, and I don't know why, because it's nothing new for him to totally catch me off-guard.  

Mommy- yes baby
Miss M. said she can't be my girlfriend anymore- her Mommy said she can't date brown boys. 

I don't know where the obsession for dating and going out came from at age 7- but that's for another day. 

He told me this made him sad and feel bad. He asked why she couldn't be his girlfriend, just because he is brown. He told me it wasn't his fault he is brown, that God made him that way. 

And he is right. 

But the answers aren't easy and we know that he'll face this for the rest of his life.

Rex and I have been learning to deal with it since our first bi-racial foster children decades ago; but as far as I know this is the first time he's come face to face with it.

And since he's only 7, I know how I respond will set the foundation.  So a quick shout out to God for wisdom before telling him the truth, in the same casual way he told me.  

Elijah, it's called prejudice.  I told him that sometimes brown people are prejudiced to white people, and sometimes white people are prejudiced to brown people. 

I told him prejudice is wrong. 

And I told him that our family believes that he is free to be friends with, yes even date whoever he wants.  The color of their skin doesn't matter to us as long as they love Jesus.

And for today that seemed to be all he could handle.


Happy Thursday y'all!