[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That was one of my first thoughts, too.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That is such a beautiful name; I love it.

Still waiting for my chance at a grandchild. One of my kids is getting married soon, so maybe in a year or two....

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Sooo looking forward to it!

My dad once drove across the desert southwest. I'd left a doll in the back of the car on the deck behind the back seat, a common thing because I wasn't into dolls. When he came back, the rubber had darkened considerably from the harsh sun, making the doll distinctly brown. I was interested in that doll. My parents were horrified and threw it away. Yay for the 1950s and "if it's not white, it's not right."

Sophia sounds like my kind of kid. My favorite book when I was four was "What's Inside of Me?" a sexless anatomy book for the kiddies.

My first encounter with a real girl scientist.

This was back in Houston, in one of the suburbs around the Johnson Space Center.

On a hot summer day, my boys were playing in the back yard with a bunch of neighborhood friends. I was in charge of keeping an eye on them, but I was distracted inside. Can't remember what I was doing. Suddenly several of the kids burst in through the back door, screaming that there's a snake in the yard. This is Houston, we're surrounded by rice paddies, so my first thought is copperhead or cotton mouth. Both deadly vipers. I run to the garage, grab a machete and race to the backyard. I can see rustling in the raised flower beds. It's a big one, but I can't tell what it is; the ferns are three feet tall and thick. I track it to the corner. There's about a dozen kids in the yard and I feel I have no choice but to whack first, ask questions later. So I do.

One, two, three slashes, and I finally nail the snake. Head severed a few inches back from the neck. I pull the body out and, lo and behold, it is a garter snake. Absolutely harmless. I feel like shit.

I wanted to make the best of a bad situation, so I decided this was a good moment for an anatomy lesson. I grab some X-acto knives and head back to the back yard. I cut the snake lengthwise along the belly, exposing stomach, the one lung and a still beating heart. The kids recoil in horror. All save one; a little girl, about four years old. She is fascinated. She is squatting in front of the snake, mesmerized. She asks me to open the stomach to see what's inside. The rest of the kids including my sons have already moved to the other side of the yard. They want no part of this. I open the stomach and there's a couple of small mice, and a frog. She looks at them intently and asks me to turn them over to see them from all sides...

THAT!, my friend, is what a scientists looks like. Male, female, or otherwise, that's the hallmark; that insatiable curiosity.

That little girl is a surgeon now.

She may be the very same person who holds your life in her hands the next time you go to the hospital.

Pray that she is, for then you will be in the best hands. You will be in the hands of a real scientist.




http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002880878

...should have kept her bigotted mouth shut. Damn busybody.

Well done, Sophia!

answer must have set her straight. Good girl!

I thought the same thing. It's how bigotry extends into the next generation - small experiences like that

asked a black girl buying a white doll that question.

...cashier would probaby think a black child shouldn't be allowed to have a white doll.

So it wasn't a quesiton of being allowed to have a white doll - but there weren't any dolls for brown children that even bore a passing resemblance to them.

I arrived on the planet in 1951.

like his friend so their teacher wouldn't be able to tell them apart?

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTivn04Uog0r0wj8RNAe-UBIQzWdGEXaHwKXC4aXqJc4QAT4tCDAQ

Children are blind to race and ethnicity. Let's hope they never change and they teach other kids to be the same.

...stories EVER!

and two little saps (said with affection) are both so pleased with themselves and convinced they'll fool their teacher. I do hope she or he went along with it.

And good on her parents as well!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]You are so lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive mom, too. I hope to have the chance to see what you're up to in another 15-20 years!

He wanted to trick their teacher so he had his hair cut so that she wouldn't know the difference.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4273942/Kentucky-boy-four-shaves-head-match-black-friend.html

Jesus H. Christ at the disco! What kind of person says something like that?

Or is that pretty much the "norm" for South Carolina? I don't know...

I can't imagine any cashier saying this and the story doesn't mention the store or any complaints.

Every time I see stories like this, the person recants it a few weeks later when they realize people have caught on that it's a lie.

If it's true, there's something wrong with that cashier but I right now don't believe this happened.

when his Mom was pregnant. He didn't care if it was a boy, or girl doll "like Mommy". He also wanted a Kitchen Set, and constantly wants to help his Mom cook. So what? Lose the male/female gender classifications. Perhaps, he will grow up to be a Chef like his Great-Great-Great-Grandpa, or a Chef Ramsey. At any rate, maybe loving. caring Daddy from changing Baby Dolls Diapers, unlike his PRESIDENT. "HER job, not mine."

Noa is white, like Sophia. My daughter recalled HER favorite American Girl Doll, and she wrote this yesterday: 'I remember why I always found Addy to be the most beautiful. I had read all of her stories and I was captivated by her power. Strong women are beautiful.'

...into our otherwise melanin-deficient neighborhood, we stopped by to introduce ourselves. The family had 2 little girls, the same age as mykids. As is so often the case, the kids were instant best buddies, and we went over to their house many times.

One afternoon, when we were outside in their front yard, my older son asked his friend a question that she couldn't answer. He pointed to the 8 yr old boy who lived next door, and said, "I'll ask her brother. I'll bet he knows."

The 8 yr old next door was as blonde and blue-eyed as a poster child for Sweden. I was touched by the innocence of my son's assumption that this young man was his frined's brother, and hoped that he would always be so ""color-blind."

Kudos to the parents!

Let's make sure they're not contaminated by the hate and cruelty spewing out of DC.

My 3 year old granddaughter is a huge fan of the show, and every time I visit, the first thing she wants to do is give me a check-up. She has her own medical kit with a stethoscope, otoscope, and even a plastic x-ray machine. This is all due to Doc McStuffins, which has introduced a whole generation of little girls to the idea that they too should be doctors.