When adorable five-year-old Niece stops by to say hello, she and my husband play the jumping-on-the-bed game, the I'm-going-to-tickle-you game, and any other kind of fun that riles her up into a tizzy of energy--and then we send her home. Hee hee--that's the great benefit of being Auntie and Uncle. Well, this Auntie and Uncle are trying to change our ways and not send the kid home in a frenzy for her folks to deal with. When Niece (and her mom) stopped by the other day, after the jumping, tickling, wiggling and assorted frenzy-making activity (all in the span of about 20 minutes), we played a calmer game: I Spy. "I spy with my little eye, something white," Niece said. We gave a few wrong answers and she would giggle and say "Nooooo" delighted that she had picked something we would never guess. The something white was Uncle's teeth. Of course! Then there had to be one more round of I Spy before she would leave: "I spy with my little eye something blue." Was it Uncle's pants? Was it the blue in the drawing she made for us? Was it the sky? No. No. No. "What is it?"
"It's Auntie Heidi's eyes. They're blue."
"Oh," said my husband. "You're very tricky!"
"Yes," said Niece. "I tricked you!"
Okay, so why go on and on about this? Well, first: my husband has never really believed that my eyes are blue -- He thinks they are mostly green. Well, he's right. They are that too. They change colors: depending on my mood, the light, the colors I am wearing. But essentially they are blue. And I like to say that. So it was affirming that five-year-old Niece understood this better than her Uncle. "See," I said after Niece left. "Even Niece knows my eyes are blue." "Uh huh," he said (I am certain he will never relent.)
Second, I am interested in knowing how it is that Niece registers the fact that I have blue eyes. She is biracial herself (African-American and Filipino) but also only five and hasn't been schooled in racial matters yet (thankfully). I don't think she has any idea that it is not necessarily common for a brown person like myself to have blue eyes. When will that change for her? And what will she think? Already, this gorgeous little girl has on occasion expressed longing for straight hair like her mom. Will she want to have light eyes like Auntie too? I think not, but I know that these facts that she's registered about how people she loves look will take on a different meaning for her in the next few years because of our racialized society. I just wish that weren't so.
Photo Credit: Niece (with arm stretched out in front of her).
