Who, what, when, where, why, how?
Last night I was holding Carly in the rocking chair, slowly rocking her and stroking her soft brown curls as she rested her head on my shoulder with her arms wrapped around my neck. She was quiet and peaceful, and I thought she was drifting off to sleep. Hah! She was just giving her fantastic brain a few minutes to work its wonders before lifting up her little head, looking me straight in the eyes and saying with absolute pointedness, "Mommy, I am going to ask you some questions." And she did.
"Why do butterflies flutter?" "Why do worms crawl?" "How did Dumbo fly?" "Why does a cat purr?" "Why doesn't the special statue have a face?" "Why do my footies have a zipper and not buttons?" "How does the sun make flowers grow?" All of these questions she had gathered from looking around at things in her bedroom. I tried to answer them with the best and most accurate explanations I could. And those, I would soon discover, were the easy ones.
"What makes the wind?" "Why is it dark at night?" Check. Check. Both scientifically answered. Then came the big ones that I thought I wouldn't hear for years to come. "Why did the men hurt Jesus?" Then the whopper, "WHO IS GOD? We go to church and talk to God and sing Gospel music, but who is he?" Whoa. Talk about blowing my mind. My sweet, innocent, barely in this world two-and-a-half-year-old daughter wanted to know about Jesus and God. While this is certainly not my area of expertise and I felt mildly panicked, I answered her questions gently yet honestly. Something like this, "Honey, the men didn't believe the same things that Jesus believed, and wanted to stop him from telling other people about God. They hurt him because they thought that would stop him from loving God, but it didn't." She was listening so intently, soaking it all in and I knew I had to go on.
I tried my best to explain God, all the while wondering how long it took men and women of the cloth to perfect their own answer to this very question. My answer may not have been perfect, but I hope Carly will take my words and add to them her own experiences, emotions and beliefs as she moves through her life.
I'm so proud of Carly for everything she is and I cherish her inquisitive nature. It is wonderful that she just wants to know. Never stop questioning Pumpkin. Never.
Last night I was holding Carly in the rocking chair, slowly rocking her and stroking her soft brown curls as she rested her head on my shoulder with her arms wrapped around my neck. She was quiet and peaceful, and I thought she was drifting off to sleep. Hah! She was just giving her fantastic brain a few minutes to work its wonders before lifting up her little head, looking me straight in the eyes and saying with absolute pointedness, "Mommy, I am going to ask you some questions." And she did.
"Why do butterflies flutter?" "Why do worms crawl?" "How did Dumbo fly?" "Why does a cat purr?" "Why doesn't the special statue have a face?" "Why do my footies have a zipper and not buttons?" "How does the sun make flowers grow?" All of these questions she had gathered from looking around at things in her bedroom. I tried to answer them with the best and most accurate explanations I could. And those, I would soon discover, were the easy ones.
"What makes the wind?" "Why is it dark at night?" Check. Check. Both scientifically answered. Then came the big ones that I thought I wouldn't hear for years to come. "Why did the men hurt Jesus?" Then the whopper, "WHO IS GOD? We go to church and talk to God and sing Gospel music, but who is he?" Whoa. Talk about blowing my mind. My sweet, innocent, barely in this world two-and-a-half-year-old daughter wanted to know about Jesus and God. While this is certainly not my area of expertise and I felt mildly panicked, I answered her questions gently yet honestly. Something like this, "Honey, the men didn't believe the same things that Jesus believed, and wanted to stop him from telling other people about God. They hurt him because they thought that would stop him from loving God, but it didn't." She was listening so intently, soaking it all in and I knew I had to go on.
I tried my best to explain God, all the while wondering how long it took men and women of the cloth to perfect their own answer to this very question. My answer may not have been perfect, but I hope Carly will take my words and add to them her own experiences, emotions and beliefs as she moves through her life.
I'm so proud of Carly for everything she is and I cherish her inquisitive nature. It is wonderful that she just wants to know. Never stop questioning Pumpkin. Never.
posted by lkmitchell @ 3:42 PM
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