When a kid turns 2 - 6 years old, you gotta prepare yourself for periodical exam-like questions or interrogations every day. During these ages, they usually ask a lot. By that time, they don't care if you get tired of explaining or if your answers make sense to them.
They ask too random questions that you'll find yourself in awe of where did that come from.
I believe these are the common questions children ask adults:
Why can't I play all day?
My childhood days were awesome. I can say that I have gained a lot of experiences and my memories were filled with joy and fun. However, there were times when I resented my parents so much because they force me to take an afternoon nap.
I remember I asked this question to my father and he said, "so you'll grow taller". Now I realized that I have been scammed all my life. I was deprived of my happiness by my own parents and it did not give me justice. Kidding.
I did not grow taller. Had I known about this, I could have played all day long. Nevertheless, the happy memories it gave me were priceless. Tiptoeing so they can't hear my footsteps heading to the exit was so thrilling. I realized that I have excellent body control and composure. Haha
Is Santa Clause Real?
Santa Clause was someone I always look forward to when I was a kid. Every time I see a foreign guy with a long beard, I call them Santa Clause right away. I have always believed that he was real.
I remember back in my grade school days, I used to sleep over at my cousin's house and get together nights before Christmas Eve. My uncle would ask about our wishes for Christmas gifts.
Hours before Christmas eve, we heard a vehicle stopping by every residence and someone shouting "Merry Christmas!". We looked over the window and we saw a bearded man wearing a red suit and cap. We were so delighted to see him and we believed that Santa Clause was real.
I used to ask this question to my mother and she said " Yes, he is real but only to those children who are good and kind. So always be a good girl".
I can say that I have been a good girl but he never appeared right in front of me together with his reindeers. I was tricked again. My parents have been scamming me all along.
Why is the sea salty?
As far as I can remember, the family went to a beach when I was around 4 years old. They took pictures of me playing with the sand and I looked so innocent.
When my father took me to the sea, I was crying because I was afraid of the waves. However, he assured me that he will never leave me. I cried out loud when I tasted the sea and it was so salty.
I asked my mother why the sea is salty and she talked about a giant man who lent his leg for the people to cross the sea. The first ones they carried were bags of sugar. However, some men dropped the bags because it was too heavy so it fell on the ground.
The ants were there to pick up the sugar and they crawled upon the legs of the giant man. As the men carried the bags of salts while crossing the sea, the ants were also busy crawling to the legs of the giant man, and some bit him. The giant man reacted so the men fell to the sea along with the bags of salts. So that makes the sea salty.
Do we have the same explanation as this? Let me know in the comment section.
Why do people die?
This is something hard to explain. I couldn't remember asking this to my parents but when I witness my grandfather lying inside the coffin when I was 4, I got curious why he was there and why he was not moving. I thought he was just sleeping.
Days after, I was so confused why people were crying and bringing my grandpa to the church without letting him stand up and walk. I saw grandma wearing a black dress and she was heavily sobbing. I wondered why she was in despair.
Moments after, they buried grandpa in the deep hole and I asked mom why did they do it to grandpa. Grandpa couldn't breathe if they cover him with soil.
Last but not the least,
How are babies made?
Mom, Dad, where did I come from? A question every parent must prepare for when asked by his/her child.
I can clearly remember how I asked this question to my parents. They laughed and jokingly told me that they just saw me inside a trash can in Davao city.
I was just laughing at that time but they made me believe that. I had no idea bout it but as long as I was staying with them, that all mattered to me.
When I finally had enough rationalization, it came down to me that all of it was a joke and they just want to avoid answering the question because it was awkward and as a child, it will still not make sense to me.
How did your parents explain to you about your existence?
The innocence of a child brings stress to the adults indeed. If you're asked, how will you explain these questions to a child?
Thanks for reading.
Keep safe everyone ❤
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My son actually asked me one day why he couldn't just play all day. I said okay. Let's do a test to find out. Tomorrow, from the moment you wake up, to the moment it is bedtime you are going to play. All-day, all the time. Well, by the time his favorite show came on, on tv, he was pretty much done with the whole idea. LOL....
I never really had problems answering those questions about Santa and the Sint for my kid. I never lied to him, so when he asked if Santa Claus (and Sinterklaas) were real I calmly and in ELI5 speak explained about the winter solstice and the early Christian cultural appropriation of the winter solstice festivals and feasts in order to be less unappealing to the what they called Pagan's to convert to Christianity. The subsequent question "So Jezus wasn't born on Christmas?" meant that particular conversation was a longer one than I'd expected. It was no less satisfying though, as he never forgot any of what we talked about that day.
He never asked me why questions really by the way. He usually asked "How" questions. But the one about the salt I never got asked. We did, when he was about 10, once have a talk about why there was sweet water in rivers and in the ground and saltwater in the sea and oceans. So he came close. By that time my rule about questions was already in effect so my answer was "Have you tried finding that out on the internet yet?" and he never came back to ask again so I guess he did find the answer on the internet for that one.
The why people die question I didn't get either. He somehow figured out on his own that people like teddy bears or basically anything in the Universe, wear out and eventually are too damaged to function and stop functioning. For people (and animals) that can happen over long times, or it can happen quickly like in an accident. He was confused about why using replacement parts didn't work for humans and animals like it did for computers, which is how I know about wearing out a concept he; 'd come up with, I must admit my son was fortunate enough not to witness and deal with death until he was 8 or 9 years old. By then he'd already picked up an interest in archeology so I think that helped.
The "where do babies come from" question was an easy way out for me. When he was born, instead of birth cards, my ex and me had bought baby socks and had the label printed with his date of birth and the text (as if it was a real label from a pair of socks)
Made from: 50% Papa 50% mama Do not machine wash, Do not use chemical detergent! Do not expose to direct sunlight, extreme heat, or cold.
No warranty applies!
So when he asked where babies came from i just gave him one of those socks and i never heard anything about it again. Dodged the proverbial bullit there... I'll have the "Boy meets girl, girl loves boy" talk in about a year. He is now still somewhat in the "girls are stupid" phase.