Face value

Peanut is 2 1/2 now and, among other recently acquired talents, knows how to speak her mind. She has begun to articulate ideas and thoughts that address the big picture of life -- not just toys and food and silliness. As with every child when they reach this point, what she has to say is pretty interesting.

She started preschool a couple weeks ago, and I have never seen a child more ready for preschool. It is as if this is where she has belonged her whole little life. She loves it beyond words.

The other day, she was talking to me about one of her teachers, whom she has liked since we've been taking Jellybean to preschool. She was telling me a story about something Miss Amy (not her real name) likes to say. Then, she paused for a moment, looked me in the eye, and with more innocence than I thought any single person could conjure, she said, "Miss Amy has a dark face."

I was at the same time surprised, offended and endeared. Miss Amy is a person of color, and we had never discussed that previously. As I was taking mental inventory of how to respond, Peanut continued.

"[Other teachers] Miss Jane, Miss Kathy and Miss Diane have light faces. You and Jellybean and me have light faces. But Miss Amy has a dark face."

She was clearly very proud of her analysis. She awaited my response, sweet-faced and genuine. I could go no other way than the honest route. "You're right, Peanut. Some people have dark faces, and some people have light faces. But we're all the same kind of people."

All I could think after that was how I wished it could just be that simple. Because of so much history and wrongdoing, we as a society (and a world, in many ways), can't just notice someone's color and move on. Maybe we should take a cue from the 2-year-olds and start looking at the world as it is now -- pack away our judgments and walk forward, knowing what we know but not using it.