Speaking Up

A quick pic while we were waiting for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to start. My sister and I took the young 'uns to see the show to kick off the holiday season.

E and D had to have Christmas Snoopy dolls. So cute. They look so grow up but there is still a tiny bit of little girl left in them.

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I was working in the Children's department this afternoon and was overrun by lots of children from a local preschool. I love when they come visit - the place starts jumping and jiving with activity. It takes a little bit for them to get comfortable talking to us but once the first child breaks down the wall, they all start talking. Question after question after question. They line up to ask me questions. 

"Where can I find this book?"

"Where are the Harry Potter books?"

"Do you have to pay for the bookmark?" 

"Can I buy this book, please?"

All kinds of questions. It is super fun to hear what they come up with to ask me. 

So I was sitting at the desk, typing something or other, and two little ones marched by me. They couldn't have been more than five or six. The boy was leading the way, clutching a hedgehog puppet, and the girl was right on his heels, trying to get him to hand over the puppet.

"No! You can't have it. You're not a boy," he said, not looking back at her at all. He missed the exasperated look on her face. I was taken aback by such a comment from a little one. I sat there for a moment, wondering if I should intervene. As I was thinking about that, I heard a voice say, "Hey! Anyone can do anything!" I looked over and there was an older boy, about eight or nine, sitting at one of the computers and he was looking right at the little guy who made the comment. He stared at him for a little while before going back to the computer.

It didn't fix anything. The little guy still wouldn't give the little girl the puppet. But I hope it made him think about what he had said. 

It sure made me happy to hear another little guy speak up for the girl. Maybe the next generation will get it right.