The Beginning of the End
Doesn't this sound so doom and gloom? It sort of is. It has come to my attention this week that Andrew is becoming aware that we're not all the same. I've wondered for the last several years, when it would happen. I knew it would eventually, but I've been thrilled with his lack of caring that his friends, teachers, teammates were different.
We've tried hard not to impart any prejudices on him. There's plenty he'll learn from society. Unfortunately, there's one set of prejudices we didn't exactly realize we influenced, and this particular set, sort of cracks me up.
Here's a funny story, that involves Doug- and therefore cracks me up, and illustrates the way we unintentionally imparted our prejudices on Andrew. Last year, we were going over Andrew's nightly word homework and when we got to one of the words there was a discrepancy about how exactly to pronounce it. See, Andrew's teachers were both . . . Yankee's! Oh, the horror!!!!! Andrew thought the word was pronounced, "ruff" and Doug insisted to the point of . . . psychosis, it was "roof and that was the only doggone way it would be pronounced in THIS house!" Now, Doug was being funny . . . sort of (I think we all know deep down, he wasn't joking- the word was roof and the other pronunciation was absolutely WRONG!). See, one group of people we haven't been as careful to appear neutral on, is in fact, Yankees. Yes I know, I am technically a Yankee. Yes, my entire family is Yankee's, we have many good friends that are Yankees, but . . . we're all different. (there are many ways to take that).
On a slightly less humorous note, yesterday I realized someone is teaching Andrew . . . stuff. We're driving down the road and out of nowhere he says, "Did you know Jewish people don't believe in Jesus?!" (Honestly, you just never know what he's going to say!) I say, "yes." He then goes one to say that someone he knows is Jewish and he knew that because they look Jewish. I was like, "What? What does a Jewish person look like?" He says, "Oh you know, Jewish."
Today he's telling me that when he wraps the Silly Band around his pinky finger a whole lot, it gets bigger (mental head shakes and eye rolls and that observation). AND, did you know his pinky fingers aren't even the same size? He's weird. I respond, "Well, Andrew- everyone's weird. We're all different." He says, "Yeah, except Spanish people. They're all the same." Again, What? "No, Andrew, even they're all different from each other."
Not to be all dramatic, but I am disappointed. I used to cringe when he would tell me about playing with kids who I knew to be of different ethnic groups, because I knew one day he'd realize they were different. I didn't cringe because they were different, I cringed because I was afraid he would notice. But he hasn't really, until lately. But now Jewish people look . . . Jewish and Spanish speaking people all look the same. His generalizations are wacky, but they're starting. It's the beginning of the end, of the Age of Innocence.
We've tried hard not to impart any prejudices on him. There's plenty he'll learn from society. Unfortunately, there's one set of prejudices we didn't exactly realize we influenced, and this particular set, sort of cracks me up.
Here's a funny story, that involves Doug- and therefore cracks me up, and illustrates the way we unintentionally imparted our prejudices on Andrew. Last year, we were going over Andrew's nightly word homework and when we got to one of the words there was a discrepancy about how exactly to pronounce it. See, Andrew's teachers were both . . . Yankee's! Oh, the horror!!!!! Andrew thought the word was pronounced, "ruff" and Doug insisted to the point of . . . psychosis, it was "roof and that was the only doggone way it would be pronounced in THIS house!" Now, Doug was being funny . . . sort of (I think we all know deep down, he wasn't joking- the word was roof and the other pronunciation was absolutely WRONG!). See, one group of people we haven't been as careful to appear neutral on, is in fact, Yankees. Yes I know, I am technically a Yankee. Yes, my entire family is Yankee's, we have many good friends that are Yankees, but . . . we're all different. (there are many ways to take that).
On a slightly less humorous note, yesterday I realized someone is teaching Andrew . . . stuff. We're driving down the road and out of nowhere he says, "Did you know Jewish people don't believe in Jesus?!" (Honestly, you just never know what he's going to say!) I say, "yes." He then goes one to say that someone he knows is Jewish and he knew that because they look Jewish. I was like, "What? What does a Jewish person look like?" He says, "Oh you know, Jewish."
Today he's telling me that when he wraps the Silly Band around his pinky finger a whole lot, it gets bigger (mental head shakes and eye rolls and that observation). AND, did you know his pinky fingers aren't even the same size? He's weird. I respond, "Well, Andrew- everyone's weird. We're all different." He says, "Yeah, except Spanish people. They're all the same." Again, What? "No, Andrew, even they're all different from each other."
Not to be all dramatic, but I am disappointed. I used to cringe when he would tell me about playing with kids who I knew to be of different ethnic groups, because I knew one day he'd realize they were different. I didn't cringe because they were different, I cringed because I was afraid he would notice. But he hasn't really, until lately. But now Jewish people look . . . Jewish and Spanish speaking people all look the same. His generalizations are wacky, but they're starting. It's the beginning of the end, of the Age of Innocence.
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