K Has Concerns About the President

Last night, after dinner, apropos of nothing and just out of the blue, K asked -

"What happens if President Obama dies?"
I asked, "What? What do you mean?"
"Who becomes President then?," she asked.
Astonished at the whole line of inquiry, I said, "Well, the Vice President does - Joe Biden."
"Is he white or black?," she asked.
"He's white," I said.
"OK, I just wondered," she said.

I was taken aback by the whole conversation - we hadn't been talking about the President or transition of power or anything else, so I have no idea where that came from.

We had watched the innauguration, and I explained the symbollic significance of having our first non-Caucasian President. Since we'd been neither NO-Bama nor PrO-Bama, we hadn't talked a lot about him before his election. But I did want her to understand that the election of someone non-(visibly)-White to the post was a significant event and that it indicated something great about the progress our country had made. We'd talked about the settling of America and the slaves and the Emancipation, and we'd talked days before about Martin Luther King's importance and his role in promoting equality for all people.

So, I guess, in her usual way, K ruminated on all the information for a week and then was ready to speak about it :)!

Sometimes, the things she says are accompanied in my mind by the theme music from The Twilight Zone -- I have no idea how a 4-year-old would have the insights and interests that she does!