Conversation between me and a 6 year old

informative-feminist:

6/yo: I don’t wanna sleep in my bed, I hate my bed, why can’t you let me sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s bed??

Me: You know, some people don’t get their own beds, and their entire families sleep together on a bed the size of yours.

6/yo: (eyes widen) really?

Me: (nods)

6/yo: why do they sleep like that?

Me: Because maybe they don’t have money to buy bigger beds or more blankets, or maybe they don’t have enough space in their house for more beds.

6/yo: So they’re poor?

Me: …yes.

6/yo: Are they people that you know in Mexico?

Me: Some of them are, but some of them are in other places too.

6/yo: Why are the people in Mexico so poor?

Me: Well, not everyone in Mexico is poor, but a lot of people are.

6/yo: Why?

Me: Well, hundreds of years ago, some very bad and selfish people came and stole everything that they had, and they made it very difficult for the people in Mexico to ever have money again.

6/yo: (eyes widen again) why would they do that?

Me: Because they wanted more money for themselves.

6/yo: How did they steal all their stuff?

Me: (if this were my kid I’d go into more detail, plus it isn’t great to explain slavery & murder before bedtime) well… they just kind of went into their homes and… took it.

6/yo: Why don’t they steal too so they aren’t poor anymore?

Me: Some do. But most people know it isn’t good to steal.

6/yo: But they’re poor.

Me: So? You know, a lot of rich people steal too.

6/yo: (eyes widen again) why??

Me: Because they want to get even richer.

6/yo: You know, at school we make sandwiches for homeless people.

Me: that’s great!

6/yo: When you’re homeless, you probably don’t have many options to eat.

… and the conversation evolved from there.

I was so glad to have this conversation with her, since a few days before, her mom had told her that poor people often did bad things because they were poor, like “the homeless man who screamed at us today”. Total fearmongering on her part and it made me so sad to see. 6 year olds are so inquisitive and malleable, and that should be used for the best – not to drill classist and capitalist beliefs into them, but rather codes of equity and justice.