When Squish Rules the World

"See, mommy? It's a Christmas packet." *grumbles*  "It's the same one we did last year."

"That's nice hon-- you got them all right..."  *winces*  "Of course you did."

"Yeah, but this year they had a thing about Christmas symbols. I talked about the snowman, which wasn't really a symbol of  Christmas, but just of winter holidays, and how it makes us happy about the snow and snowball fights and hot chocolate."

"That's a good symbol."

"Even though we don't have snow."

"No we don't."

"And not just because of global warming-- we just don't have any here-- that's what you said, right?"

"Yup. No snow in Sacramento-- not for forty years."

"That's sad.  But anyway, see here?  We were supposed to write a story about what life would be like for someone who didn't celebrate Christmas. So I wrote about Sally, who celebrated Hanukah, and liked the Christmas lights, like we do, and liked the hot chocolate, and then went home and opened her eight presents, one every day, and played with her dreidel."

"That's really good, hon. Cause, you know, there's Hanukah songs too."

"Yeah! And they're really pretty. And we sang them too with choir. And some songs just about winter, too."

"Yeah-- they were all pretty."

"I like that we do more than one holiday. There's lots of people who do different stuff. That's really interesting."

"It is, Squishy-- you just keep being interested."

"Okay. I'm going to go read Ultraviolet now, where they have really bright hair color and Opaline may or may not be evil."

"You enjoy that, Squish. I think you're pretty awesome, you know that?"

"Of course!"

So there you go, folks. A kid who knows that not everybody has to celebrate the same things and that what other people celebrate is interesting and not threatening in the least.

She'll be eligible to run in 26 years-- who's with me?