Yesterday Carter and Wubitu started basketball at the YMCA. Usually we do out Y sports at the Y I work at in the suburbs because I get a discount but this time we decided to go to the one closest to our house to save on gas. We live in a very diverse area of town so all of the children are used to interacting with people of all ethnicities. However, at this Y our light skin is by far the minority. On game day, as we were searching for a clue to which gym we should be in, where their coach was, where the parent's sit, etc. Carter became overwhelmed for a bit as he studied his surroundings and realized that he was the minority in a packed gym Carter looked around and then whispered in my ear, "Mommy, are you sure we are in the right place........(pause), is this were we are supposed to be?....(pause)....everyone here has brown skin." I told him , "yes this is where we were supposed to be. This Y is different than the Y that mommy works at, huh. I wonder if this is how Wubitu and Sefan feel at our Y sometimes." He seemed satisfied with that answer and we finally found Carter and Wuby's coach. And all of Carter's anxiety seemed to melt away as he got his game face on. Neither Carter nor Wubitu have ever played basketball so it was a riot as we tried to explain (yell) the sport to them from the sidelines. Carter ran (skipped) the entire time with his hands in his pockets and Wuby wandered around resisting the urge to hug everyone in the middle of the game. It was too cute (all spectators enjoyed themselves, laughing through all of the Preschool/Kindergarten antics).
A good time was had by all and important life experiences were introduced. We are so glad Carter is getting the opportunity to experience being the minority even if it is for a short time. And both kids get to learn from awesome coaches and role models that look more like Wubitu & Sefan.