Was Rosa Parks in jail? Yes. Why? Because she broke the rules. So she was bad? No, she was a very brave, very good person. Then why she break the rules and go to jail? …

Seriously, help me explain this.

They talked about Rosa Parks at Toby’s pre-school today. He got a little Scholastic hand-out about her and apparently an abbreviated explanation. He was FASCINATED about her getting arrested and going to jail.

He spent the entire trip home asking about it. Over and over, approaching it from every angle. He could NOT understand why if she “broke the rules” she was still considered a good person. I tried talking about how the rules then were wrong, so she was right to break them. Let’s just say that’s a level of subtle that is just a titch above a 3-year-old’s head.

“So, it’s OK to break the rules?”

“No, Toby, it’s not OK for YOU to break the rules.”

“But I think the rules are wrong. Lots of rules you say are wrong.”

Sigh. It’s too early to learn subversion. Look, Toby, a TRACTOR!

Supposedly tomorrow they’re moving on to ‘planets’ as subject matter. WHEW. His questions on this topic are a tad easier. “That guy lives on Earth too?” “Yep.” Happy. Bring on the planets.