Q & A

Kids are naturally curious, so they ask questions. It’s cute and fun when it’s a question you can answer, like "Where does the rain come from?" or "Why does bread dough rise?" But too often my children ask me questions I just don’t know the answer to. I hate that; I feel like I’m in school, failing an exam.

"Mommy, what keeps airplanes up in the air?"

"How do they grow more seedless grapes, since they don’t have seeds?"

"Did you wash my gym uniform? What’s for dinner? Why does the laundry room smell like fish?"

When they ask me those questions, questions that I feel, deep down, I should be able to answer, but can’t, my first reaction is to panic, feeling helpless and defensive. This stage is brief; I quickly move on to the next step, which involves evasive maneuvers. Here are a few answers worth trying:

"It’s all part of the wonderful, mysterious world we live in."
or
"You’ll learn that next year in school."
or
"Go ask your dad."
or
"Hey, who wants a cookie?"

Yesterday, my kids and I were driving home from the store when my seven-year-old daughter asked me one of those questions.

"Mommy, why is the sky blue?"

I was still in test anxiety mode – wait, wait, I know this one, I think I learned this once – when I was rescued by my ten-year-old son, who, looking around with great interest, gave the best answer to that question that I have ever heard.

"What guy?"

This guy.