Big Sis takes after DSO and I, we are all “speak, think, speak” types (categorisation courtesy of personality testing at the hands of the corporate world). In laymans’ terms - we are talkers who don’t necessarily know where we are going when we start!
Big Sis can come into our bed at 2am and tell us about the dream she has just had - in real time. Last night it was a scary dream where Little Bro was trapped in her Kinder bag and as hard as she tried she couldn’t pull him out, this is an abbreviated description, hers goes for 20 minutes.
But, not only does she tell a mean (and long) story but she has the cross examination skills of a QC. She leads you along until you realised you are completely cornered.
This morning she was following a line of questioning about poo (a favorite topic) and asked DSO how mermaids do poos. DSO thinking on his feet responded - “Just like fish do”. Big Sis was back in a flash - “The fish we eat don’t do poos do they?”
How to answer this one while ensuring that she continues to eat fish? And the next one - “In the water we drink?” DSO will often call me later in the day to fill me in on the morning conversation cross-examination, just to make sure I corroborate his story!
kids questions, mermaids
I think it’s a factor of both her age and personality, but Big Sis asks lots of questions. Generally, these range from the biological to the metaphysical. Here is a sample from the last 24 hours:
- What do muscles look like?
- Where does the wind come from?
- What is skin for?
- Where were all the people when there were dinosaurs?
- Is my brain round?
- What happens if you mix purple and green?
- What makes you grow old?
- What’s this bone called (holding a random part of the body)?
- Why do babies come out of bottoms?
- What is your elbow for?
- What does Friday look like?
- Will we live forever?
The last one in particular gets asked about 10 times every day. It appears that I’m not giving her the answer she is looking for - and she keeps trying, looking for a discrepancy.
My answer goes along these lines :
“(Begins with an inward sigh) - Well honey, we will all die one day. But, probably not until we are really, really old which is a long time away - so you don’t have to worry about it now!”
She goes quiet and mulls this over, only to raise it again a few hours later.
Today it was somewhat different. Big Sis, out of the blue, stated quite clearly that:
“We will live forever, Daddy said so!”
I immediately called DSO at work and he confirmed that upon the 5th asking last Sunday, when he had been trying to get something done (put up some shelves I think - please see post about jobs list), he had responded in exasperation, with:
“Yes, Yes honey - whatever!”
I went back to Big Sis and explained that Daddy was rethinking his position and that they would discuss it further tonight. She immediately came back with her own solution:
“Okay Mummy, this is what happens - we live forever and ever and ever, and then, after that, we die!”
conversation with kids, kids questions
