Teaching the young

This past Friday we got a fair amount of snow and ice. They had orignially just postponed school for two hours and then cancelled it.
Emily goes to the baby sitter in the morning, who puts her on the bus then back to Danielle's in the afternoon for an hour.
Danielle calls me while I was at work to tell me that Emily was having a very difficult time because they closed school. (I know, right! A child who WANTS to go to school).
So, this morning, Saturday, Danielle called me to let me know that with Martin Luther King Jr's birthday being Monday, she was going to close. Emily asked me who was on the phone and we were talking about it. She wanted to know, very upset, why there was no school on Monday.
Now, think about this. We as adults, most of us being children of baby boomers, have a very good understanding of who Martin Luther King Jr was. Of his mission in life. His struggle for social equality for all races. But, we have been trying to raise Emily without the idea that color of skin is any kind of issue. So, how do you explain to a child who Martin Luther King Jr was? Without opening a whole other can of worms?
So, this was my explaination.
Martin Luther King Jr was a pastor. This she got. She loves church and understands who a pastor is. Then I told her that MLK jr was upset by the way his church member were being treated by other people. That he wanted better things for them. And he fought for everyone to have a happy and good life. So, because he was such a good man, thinking of others, we celebrate his birthday.
With Emily, it's hard to talk about death. It turns into a day long disertation on angels, death, who has died, why they died, where they are and more theology than most ministers deal with in a month. So, I really didn't mention the tragic day in Memphis 50ish years ago. She wouldn't even begin to understand it.
But, when it comes to teaching Emily history, I stop for a minute and think about how I would explain it to an alien or maybe Jesus Himself. It helps a bit.