Indigenous Peoples Day 2022
Jane swore she was going to start locking their bedroom door. Ever since Kate learned to open doors at the age of two, she had entered their bedroom whenever she wanted. At first it was cute but when she walked in one time when they were in the throes of passion, it wasn't so cute anymore. Kate was two at that time and didn't know what was going on so they were lucky.
They had informed her multiple times if the door is shut then she needed to knock. But she did what she wanted to, kind of like her mama. The other three children had never interrupted them before 6 AM and they understood the closed-door rule and always knocked. Kate was the exception. She was a determined young lady and when she wanted or needed something she sought it out.
Four-year old Kate decided to come into their room again, way too early in the morning to ask her mommy some questions. She was so curious. Kate loved to ask questions and Maura loved to answer her questions. They were perfect together, but according to Jane not at 6 AM, when their alarm was normally set to go off at 6:30 AM.
Today was a different day though as it was a holiday and they had the day off. Kate had woken up around 5:30 AM and went downstairs. She needed to get something before she could ask her mommy a question. She went into her mommy's office and grabbed her laptop computer. It was plugged in when she picked it up. She tried to unplug it but couldn't so she tugged on it and the cords broke free from it. She picked it up and left the office.
She struggled to carry the laptop computer upstairs. She had to grip it with both hands and hold it close to her body so she wouldn't drop it. She carefully placed the laptop computer at the foot of the bed and then climbed up onto her mothers' bed. She reached down and pulled the laptop computer up with her and wiggled in between her mothers, under the covers.
Jane stirred and opened her eyes as Kate kissed her on the cheek. Kate then reached over and caressed Maura's face and then gave her a kiss on the lips, which cause Maura to stir. She knew it wasn't Jane she opened one eye and calmly said, "Good morning, Kate."
Kate practically crawled up on her mommy and said, "Morning mommy, today is indi … indi generous people day."
Maura laughed quietly and said, "You mean Indigenous Peoples Day."
Kate smirked and stated, "That's what I said mommy." Jane grabbed her and pulled her into her body and snuggled with her. Kate laughed as Jane tickled her as she laid her down between her and Maura. She knew no one would be able to go back to sleep if Kate was in her questioning mode.
"How come mommy gets a caress and a kiss on the lips and I just get a kiss on the cheek? Is she your favorite?" Jane teased their daughter as she continued to tickle her.
"I don't have a favorite." Kate expressed. "I love you both very much, but I need mommy right now. I need her to answer some questions for me." Kate squeaked out in between tickles from her mama.
About ten minutes after Kate's arrival, eight-year-old MJ came in and climbed up on the bed and said, "Sorry mommies, I thought I would wake up before her and prevent her from waking you up this morning."
"It is okay MJ." Maura said as she sat up and leaned against the headboard. Jane stopped tickling Kate and followed suit. Kate climbed up on Jane's lap and sat so she could see her mommy. She reached under the covers and pulled out the laptop computer and handed it to Maura. MJ positioned himself so he could lean against his mommy and look at his Katie and his mama.
Once Maura had the laptop computer in her hand, Kate asked her, "Mommy, can you show me pictures of the indigenerous people and tell me all about them?"
"Indigenous, Kate the term is indigenous peoples not indigenerous." Maura explained as she looked at the laptop computer without opening it. "How about we go downstairs and have some breakfast first and then I can tell you about the Indigenous peoples." Maura suggested.
"Okay mommy. Can you make sure you show me some pictures also?" Kate asked as she climbed off of Jane's lap and climbed down the bed. Normally she would have climbed over Maura but MJ was in her way. Once she was off the bed she walked over to Maura and said, "Mommy, I can put that away until after breakfast."
"It's okay Kate, I will put it away." Maura stated. She wondered how Kate was able to get the laptop computer upstairs. She hoped she didn't drop it in the process.
Kate smiled and went downstairs. Before she walked out of the room, she turned and questioned her mothers, "Aren't you coming? I'm hungry."
Maura looked at Jane and said, "She's your daughter." Jane just laughed. Anytime Kate did something like this Maura claimed that Kate was hers. She looked so much like Jane and she acted more like her every day, but Maura loved that about her. It was as if they had a mini-Jane.
They both loved her, she was the perfect blend of both of them. She was smart beyond her years and very beautiful. She was definitely the one in control of most situations. Her brothers and sister learned not to mess with her. Jane and Maura knew it also. Kate had thrown one too many tantrums when she didn't get her way. They tried to let her think she was in control sometimes as they carefully led her to the conclusion that they wanted. Kate was very convincing but Jane knew that game all too well and was able to sway Kate.
By 7 AM the entire family was awake and eating breakfast at the table. Jane had fixed bunny pancakes and Maura squeezed some fresh orange juice. The children loved when Maura squeezed their juice right in front of them, so that is what she did. They cleaned up from breakfast and after all the children got dressed, they met in the living room.
Maura didn't have a presentation planned for them as each of them had written a report for school that they had to turn in on Friday. That is why Kate wanted to see pictures. While the children were dressing Jane had taken the laptop computer downstairs and had hooked synced it up to the large screen TV. After all the children were ready Maura brought them down to the media room.
Maura first told them that Massachusetts was the first state to be named after a Native American tribe, the Massachusett. They lived in the greater Boston area. Most of the tribe was killed by a smallpox epidemic in 1633.
She showed them pictures of drawings of the Massachusett and the area of land that they lived on. Maura told them how when Christopher Columbus landed in North America, he thought he was in the Indies so he referred to the native people as 'Indians.'
He did not know that he was not in the Indies. He had landed on a different continent. The name 'Indians' became Native Americans, because Indians are from India and the native people here were not from India. The people from the West Indies historically were referred to as Western Indians. Now the Native Americans are more commonly referred to as Indigenous people as their leaders in the 1970s decided that that term was more appropriate.
MJ asked, "is that why some professional sports teams are changing their names?"
"Yes, MJ. Often the public found it offensive and as a result the Washington Redskins professional football team changed their name and are now known as the Washington Commanders. The Cleveland Indians professional baseball team also changed their name and are now known as the Cleveland Guardians. That is just a few. I am sure there are more."
"On October 11th last year Mayor Janey declared the second Monday of October will be Indigenous Peoples Day in Boston. She signed an executive order making it official for the Indigenous People of Boston."
Maura continued to show pictures of some of the Indigenous Peoples and informed the children that the Indigenous Peoples make up 0.9 percent of the population in Boston. She answered their questions. She often felt like a school teacher when they had their family time like this. All four of the children were curious and wanted to know about different people and holidays.
"Thank you, mommy." Kate said as she leaned in and gave Maura a hug and kiss and then curled right back up to Jane. Her little feet were stretched out and laid on Maura's lap. Kate always tried to cuddle up with Jane so she could still see her mommy.
Maura tried to keep up with the calendar as to what holidays and special events were coming up so she could be prepared. Often times she could find teaching resources on the internet that would help her explain the events to the children. The schools only taught them so much and often didn't teach them about why we have the day off. Maura knew it wasn't the teacher's fault they had their state curriculum that they had to teach and often didn't have time to squeeze anything else in.
That is why she enjoyed her little lessons with their children. Jane enjoyed it also as she loved to watch her wife use that big brain of hers. She handled things such as getting the laptop computer to sync up to the TV and providing snacks for the children. She quite often knew the material that Maura was telling but she loved hearing Maura talk and interact with the children.
When it seemed as though Maura had answered all of their questions and Kate was napping in Jane's lap, Maura queued up one of the movies that the children had wanted to watch. They had selected Pocahontas and Pocahontas II, Journey to a New World.
The children had all learned about Pocahontas and thought it would be a good day to watch the Pocahontas movies again. Jane had already popped the popcorn before Kate fell asleep. Jane had to hold Kate as she made the popcorn because Kate wanted to help and she was too tired, so Jane just held her. Even though Kate had woken her up early that morning Jane cherished times like this with Kate and the rest of her family.
It was a rule in the Rizzoli-Isles household, anytime they had a day off they needed to know why they had the day off. Jane and Maura insisted on this when they had the children. Children needed to be taught the why of the holiday or day off. Luckily for them they had four geeks for children that loved learning.
Before the second movie ended Maura glanced over and Jane was fast asleep with Kate cuddled up with her. She and the other children went upstairs to play games and enjoy the rest of their day. She was sure that Jane and Kate would come up when they woke up from their nap as they both enjoyed spending time with their family.
