King and the 3-year-old girl

My 3-year-old daughter had a dream last night. It was about Martin Luther King Jr. At least that’s what she told me.

I’m guessing it wasn’t as idealistic as the dream the former civil rights leader shared with the world. In fact it probably had something to do with a tea party and some hockey, but I’m sure it was a good dream.

My wife and I took the time to introduce our daughter to King last night during story time.

And even though it was our 3 year old who found the book in the library, and chose that particular book for her bedtime story, I’d still have to say it was some of the most responsible parenting we’ve done in a while.

So what did we do? Well since my daughter is barely a toddler and just learned how to spell M-A-T, somebody had to deliver the goods, and that somebody was us.

As we went through the pages my daughter began asking questions.

“What is a reverend? Where is Atlanta?” and “I thought Dr. King was a little boy?” The first picture in the book showed King as a little boy so she had a hard time grasping the whole concept of children growing into adults. She’s only 3.

However as we moved through King’s life and accomplishments, this surprisingly honest children’s book showed a picture of King’s funeral.

The picture of King’s casket led to a poignant question adults 10 times my daughter’s age still have a hard time answering. “Why did someone hurt Dr. King?”

Unlike her other questions, which could be answered with a simple phrase like “a religious teacher,” “a city in Georgia,” or “people get bigger when they get older,” the question about King’s assassination is difficult because it’s hard to explain how someone could hate another human being who did so much good in his life.

So we did the best we could in the limited time her 3-year-old attention span gave us to explain how some people didn’t agree with King and how they were afraid of what he stood for.

We also told her how she should do like King and talk to people she disagrees with instead of trying to hurt them or get mad. (A message we’ve been pushing during bedtime for two years now.)

We also shared with her how King is a reason why an interracial couple, like her mommy and I, are able to be together in the first place because he opened people’s hearts to accept all people regardless of race or color.

Of course I don’t think my daughter is going to remember everything she learned about Martin Luther King Jr. last night — she’s got more important things to tackle like tying her shoes and coloring inside the lines.

However, my daughter now knows the name Martin Luther King Jr. She even had a dream about him last night.

A dream where race, creed or color didn’t matter near as much as if he wanted a pink or blue tea set.

And as long as she continues to think like that, one day she’ll do her part to help King’s dream come true.