I'm Black??!?

Why did no one tell me???

Holy crap! What do I do now?

Uh, yeah... so the other half of what happened on Monday.

Baby Girl had a friend coming to hangout at our pool. I was not aware of this fact until, oh maybe 10 minutes beforehand. Turns out the Bully in our neighbourhood kinda likes this girl who is friends with my daughter. We'll call her Ballerina, because, well, she dances ballet...

This is getting complicated with the players....

Anyway. Ballerina arrived at the gate to the pool and I went to let her in, but there was a younger girl with her who she introduced as her sister (we'll call her Gannet (a small bird that eats ANYTHING) and said that her mother wanted to meet me. Now that's fine with me, but I had no shoes on. And it was HOT. So I figured I would make it quick, say hi and then get back in the shade....

Her first response when I reached the car (she did not get out) was "Well..... you're black!"

So those who know me, know that sarcasm sometimes drips from me uncontrolled.... I had to take a deep breath before responding, but I still managed to sneak in the insult anyway: "Yep, I am. Sure am." (Whilst looking at my arms and legs... I followed up with "Her (Baby Girl) father's white and my mother is white, so Baby Girl is actually a quarter black too..."

Ballerina is white. Her mother is white. Gannet... is mixed. Like me. So my confusion was whether this mother was just slightly on the racist side or if she was just genuinely shocked that Baby Girl had a black, biological parent.

And not unsurprisingly, the mother followed up with questions about where I get my hair braided, etc etc....

And then....

"So you don't mind watching her then? She doesn't swim."

Uhhhhhh..... I beg your pardon? My understanding was that my daughter's friend was coming to hangout, not that I would also be babysitting the 6 year old, non-swimming sister. My kids are fish and require minimal supervision. I had planned to hole up in a corner with a book. AND the girl liked to eat, but was not provided with any snacks or sustenance....

Suffice it to say the mother made a very poor impression on me. Baby Girl was told in very clear language that the younger sister was not to accompany Ballerina again. (Ballerina is very nice by the way, no problems there)

What kind of parent leaves their child with someone she's never met? I mean, what an imposition! I later came to find out that both girls were adopted. I have very serious concerns about the placement of children with these parents. Had they been foster children I might have called social services....