Today I was working in my classroom and Maddie's teacher came down the hall into my room. She smiled and said: "I'm really not sure what Maddie thinks of the activities in the classroom." The classroom at school is carefully planned and each work offered is intricately designed to teach some skill (pre-reading, pre-math, spacial development, sensory awareness, etc). The teacher continued: "I was showing Maddie a geometric work and I was using the specific language associated with the shapes. After we finished the lesson and she had completed the work, she turned to me, looking surprised and said, 'Miss T, this is a learning work!'"
Maddie came home from school on Tuesday with a story she was anxious to tell me. She was telling me that she learned about someone new at school today. She began telling a story about King Martin. As she was telling the story, I racked my brain to remember a King Martin. Saint? No. Historical figure? Hmmm... can't think of one.She explained that King Martin lived long ago and he wanted to play at this park, but he wasn't allowed. There was a sign there that said he couldn't play there. The sign said "Whites Only." Suddenly, I got it. "Maddie, do you mean Martin Luther King?" Maddie's eyes lit up! "You know him, Mom!"She went on to explain how he talked to people about how everyone should be allowed to play at all the parks. She said that some people didn't like him just because his skin was brown and somebody really mean even killed him. After she had finished the story, she went to work on a drawing at the kitchen table. Apparently, she continued to process what she had heard, because a few minutes later, she said, "Mom, I didn't even know that black was a bad thing!"So, we discussed how silly it would be if she wasn't allowed to go to her school because her hair is brown, or because her eyes are green. She asked if she was white. We looked at her skin together and decided she's peachy-colored. We went on to other topics, but she kept coming back to the story of "King Martin." She just couldn't get over prejudice as a concept. "Mom, that is just the worst thing I've ever heard. That is SO mean!!!"I am sad. Until now, Maddie lived in the blissful ignorance that I wish we all could. Now she knows. She knows people are mean-spirited and there are hateful people that kill other people. Maddie is our empath, the one who feels the pain of the world acutely. I just wasn't ready for her to lose that part of her innocence yet. I guess my question is, do we have to teach children that some people are prejudiced? Couldn't we just leave it as it was? Where the kids came home from school telling us about the new boy at school who is "really tan"?
On our way back from Christmas in Ohio, John and I were talking about New Year's Eve plans. We don't really have any fun couples/families to party with. Our options here were really to get a babysitter and rock the bar scene with John's guys from work or stay home with the kids and make the most of it. Both options sounded unsatisfying to us both. Either would have been fun, but not satisfying. I suggested trying to get a room at Great Wolf Lodge (a indoor waterpark resort) and John was game, so we looked into it. The only place that had rooms available was a new waterpark resort near GWL called Kalahari Resort. We booked a room (quickly) and got John's aunt and uncle and their family to join us.We had a BLAST! The waterpark was really fun - lots of things for everyone. Frank and Julie's kids are a bit older than each of ours and our kids were in their glory running around the place with their cousins. There was a huge arcade and kids play area. Grandma was generous enough to send along some play money for the kids to spend at the arcade and they were thrilled! (Thanks, Grandma!!) The resort also had a DJ-ed dance party for New Year's Eve and all kinds of stuff going on. It was absolutely perfect for what we wanted and... satisfying. 
John and I are absolutely desperate to get Liam's hair cut. He wants to grow it out, but it's so thick that it really looks like a 1970's bowl cut. For New Year's Eve, we decided to have a little fun with it. He requested a mohawk, so I got some hair jelly and some serious hair spray and fixed him up. He was rocking the mohawk all night and loving it!
Chelsea and Maddie had a blast running around together at Kalahari. They really loved this game in the arcade. You put in a token and scoop up candy with a crane and drop it. If the candy you drop pushes candy off, some falls down the chute to you. One of the times they did it, some jackpot lights went off and another scoop with a full sized bag of candy fell down into the chute! They won so much candy! They were very proud of their winnings.
Kalahari has a 'lazy river' ride, which, frankly, is not all that lazy - it's got a serious current. The kids had such a great time and this was the one ride Isabella was tall enough to ride with everyone!
