A Picnic on the Quad

We had some time before we needed to head to ballet, so we got some lunch and had a picnic on the UNC quad by the Old Well and the monument to the Confederacy. We talked about how this was the oldest public university in the country (and I showed her the oldest public university building) and how it was created when we were fighting the British. (I had to relate it to School House Rock to explain that.) Then she asked about the monument to the Confederacy and the Civil War, "Mamma, what does 'civil' mean?" I told her that 'civil' meant that it was within our own country, that people in our country were fighting each other. The South was fighting The North because The South wanted to make their own country. The South lost, so we are all part of the United States of America. "What would have happened if the South won?" I told her that, if the South won, we would be sitting in a country called The Confederate States of America. But I didn't want to mention anything about slavery. Not yet. ; ) And thus ended the most simplified description of the Civil War ever given on the face of this earth. ; ) We also talked about her wanting to be a paleontologist and where she would go to school to learn about that. Then I realized she'd probably have to go to school out west. Oh no! Finally, we talked about all the years she would be in school and "after twelfth grade you will go to college and not live at home anymore." She wanted to know more about what would happen, so I explained as best I could to a five-year-old about self-reliance, roommates, and dorms. She didn't understand why she wouldn't live at home. I told her that maybe Leia and Shenandoah could be roommates someday. Yeah, that made her happy.
And, of course, I tried to get some pictures. Leia Rose reacted quite strongly when I told her my secret to getting true smiles: saying poopie words. She wasn't happy that I wasn't being consistent with the rule of "bathroom words in the bathroom only." This proves that, sometimes, Mamma lets the camera rule her, . . . because anyone who knows me knows that my rules don't have exceptions. ; )