Living within a real neighborhood evidently means I have to start being social. The start of this was letting the kids invite a few of their nearby friends over, and Char decided it would be a good time to meet all the parents. I could have lived without it, but relented because it was an excuse to pull out the grill and buy a case of beer. It was also a chance to see how open minded the parents of the kids our kids go to school with are; we’ve had decidedly mixed results with this in the past and frankly we were both a little concerned with how Alex’s girlfriend’s (her name is Stephanie, btw) father would take the realization that the white kid he thought he daughter was dating isn’t exactly white.

He’d met both Char and I, but that doesn’t always make things click. We were both curious about his reaction when getting a glimpse of the entire family. Brad, Nika, everyone. Some of the parents had that initial look of confusion when being introduced to Brad and Nika, but it passed and was no big deal, as it should be. Brad got a few sideways glances from a couple of single moms, but Char assures me that was more because he’s not bad to look at and he’s a flirt, an available flirt, and he was making the availability known.

I still worried about Stephanie’s father, because it would matter to Alex more than how he’s been treated in the past. He really likes this girl and I suspect she’ll be around for a while. I quit worrying when I opened the door and he was there with his girlfriend, who is Asian, and her son, who is biracial.

This neighborhood is so damned white it’s damned near blinding, so I admit I had my own preconceived notions about exposing my kids to the potential bigotry around them, but at least among their friends, there’s nothing obvious there to worry about.