The trouble begins...
My four-year old daughter has started "pre"-kindergarten. I agree, that is just silly. Eventually kids will be expected to start school the morning after they're born. But that's not the story for today. It's what they must be teaching her.
After school today I ask what's on her mind. (My first mistake.)
"Boys are cool."
Damn. I thought I'd have a few years before I had to deal with that.
"Why?"
"They just are. I want to be a boy."
Damn again. What are they teaching her at Yentl Pre-School?
We have a short conversation where dad tries to "get to the bottom of this." I'll spare you the details. The gist is the class occasionally splits into activities by gender and she favors the activities for the boys. We discuss inequalities in education. We touch upon the need for females to break into the "young boys clubs" and I promise to speak to her teacher about her gender discrimination. I can tell she gets it. I have visions of her leading pre-k protests. I see her climbing on the table (carefully) to rally her classmates.
We drive in silence as I wonder who will direct her remake of Norma Rae.
I look in the mirror. "What are you thinking?"
"Boys are cool."
I try another tack: "Filles are cooler."
She thinks, smiles, and answers with finality, "Boys are coolest."
Damn her pre-school mastery of grammar!
