kids

i find that this year in particular has been marked by the presence of kids. it probably has something to do with attending a church that is more family and neighbourhood oriented but whatever the case, i've never had to ..well.. deal with so many kids in such close proximity before and take efforts to befriend them and yet act responsible towards them.


at urban promise today, whilst making 'happy easter' cards, and discussing the issue of whether easter bunnies could be of both genders (a little girl insisted that they were usually boy bunnies)...

i found myself trying to explain the concept of race to an eight year old.

R: which one is jason's brother?
me: (looking up briefly and seeing that two teenagers) oh the one who isn't Asian.
R: (confused) what's Asian?
me: uhhhhh... it's like a race (then realizing that the term might not actually mean anything to her)... it's like i'm Asian.

She still looks at me expectantly

me: ehhhh.. it's like how your skin and my skin aren't exactly the same colour. ( and then as i hold out my hand, i realize that vancouver's winters have made me bloody fair and so the comparison isn't very good either)

isn't it nice to be at the age where race as a concept doesn't quite factor into your world. where the 'us' and 'them' mentality kind of takes the dimension of 'boys' vs 'girls', 'adults' vs 'children'.
it's not that everyone is homogeneous but i think we were less quick to put identity tags on people as kids and if we did, we saw things in bigger broader categories.