I Don't Know

I had turned on "Remember the Titans" the other day. The kids were playing and I was cleaning and wanted some background noise. I didn't notice when Taryn stopped playing, but I certainly noticed when she started asking questions.

"Why are they mean to those boys? Why don't they like them? Why mommy? Why?"

No matter what answer I gave her, she still wanted to know why some people didn't like others in the movie. I had forgotten how much she picks up on and how curious she is. I was regretting that I hadn't turned the TV to a music channel instead. I finally settled telling her that I didn't know why they didn't like each other. I told her it didn't make sense to me since we're all people. Try as I might, there is no good way to explain the hate in that movie to a five year old. To be perfectly honest, I had no intention of introducing hate into her world and I was mostly trying to answer the question without really answering the question.

Taryn got quiet and I was hoping that her mind had turned to something else. Then she said "Maybe no one told them that those boys are nice. Maybe someone just needs to tell them."

If only all the problems in the world could be solved by a child.