In households across the country, our children are asking very important and hard questions. It is the brewing of resistance of the generation of unicorns and we have clear responsibilities to love and protect our little ones and each other.

In 38 years, Collin will be my current age (the ripe age of 42). What will he think about what we have done or not done? What will the world and planet look like? Did we fight like hell for a better world for their generation?

Donald Trump has been coming up more and more in our household. Some of it is initiated by adult conversations but, more recently, Collin has taken things into his own hands. 

I’m just gonna confess here. We talk a LOT about the police. Scratch that, I should say that little children, especially boys are infatuated by sirens and the police. So one day, instead of trying to break down police brutality and the prison industrial complex to a 4 year old, I widened out and took a deep breath. We just talked about what makes a person “bad”.

“What makes someone bad?” I asked Collin.

In a timid voice, he said, “I don’t know.”

Then he started to light up with facial expressions. “Someone who doesn’t smile (insert mad face), someone who is mean and someone who hurts others. (Insert mean facial expressions and a fighting stance).”

Then I asked, “Did you know that some police officers don’t catch the right “bad people”?”

Collin reacted, “What?! Who? Like someone who… puts kids in jails!”

So these conversations have been happening throughout that last 6 months. I first wrote about how this political moment (with social media and all), our little ones are exposed to so much more rapid fire of the destruction of what is left of our democracy and planet. 

Then yesterday, after being excited about the day off. Yah! Collin was very confused why we were getting the day off for President’s Day. Then he went further and asked, “Why haven’t the police arrested Donald Trump?”

Side note, he also asked why don’t the police arrest the polluters, the evictors and other bad people. Not exactly where I expected the conversation to go. Besides the prison industrial complex and restorative justice, I don’t mind these questions. Often this political moment doesn’t even make sense for us, let alone a 4 year old. All I can offer in these precious moments is reaffirming him that “Mama and baba will love and protect you and no one will take you away.” 

The truth is it will take decades to undo the harm and destruction of Trump and Trumpism (and then some). But, for the sake of sake of ourselves, future generations and the planet, we need to show up as our best selves, take care of each other while simultaneously fighting on offense and defense — no one will be saving us but ourselves. Amazing to see the teachers across the country go on strike! BRAVO to the grassroots forces and strategies that beat back Amazon in New York!

In these times, I often remind myself of my own advice. We need a radical imagination, tactical short term and long term strategy. We need it ALL. We cannot get stuck in our own Pessimism, Perfectionism, Purism that is my commitment to myself and to Collin’s generation.

Happy President’s Day. The unicorns are coming!