My cub:

I took you to another gathering tonight.. what a busy week! This time the topic was Restorative Justice in our schools. Again, I was impressed at how polite you were the entire time. You were quiet for most of it and only got a little restless when you needed something. I'm so glad we understand each other well enough to take care of things quickly. We've really come a long way on that front. Oh and thank you for smiling at all the strangers that make all kinds of funny faces at you :) I don't think you'll have ever have a shortage of friends with that friendly demeanor of yours.

Tonight's talk got me thinking about the kinds of experiences you'll have growing up. I'm a little scared to put you in a public school.. but feel like there are many valuable experiences you might get in that setting. Valuable in a challenging type of way. My main concern would be that those challenges wouldn't necessarily help you learn the types of life lessons and skills I'd like you to have. It's a complicated situation, you see. For a long time, people of color haven't been treated the same as white people. In schools, in jails, in jobs.. in most places you can think of. They just haven't been given a fair chance to succeed in the same type of way. Why? There's not really a good reason, which is sad and frustrating. And this is the world you have been brought in to. But, you know, together we can figure out problems you might face as they come. And together, we can support other people around us that might be facing difficult situations also! I know we'll have plenty more conversations about this later on, so I'll leave it at that for tonight.

Today I really appreciated just how easily I (and anyone else who might be in the room) can get you to smile. You light up when people talk to you and it makes me so happy each time! I hope that's a quality that doesn't fade in you.

Love you munchkin.
mom

Morning smiles

After a long day