Angie Kinghorn

Deep Thoughts, by The Princess

As any parent can tell you, deep thoughts and existential questions from your children appear at the most ordinary and unexpected times.  Both of my children tend to ask questions about religion and death while on the toilet, for instance.
Tonight, I was putting my daughter to bed, and after our prayers were done, she called me back into the room.  I expected she’d need another sip of water, or a hug, but instead, she had a question.
“Mommy, are we real?” she asked.  Her little brow was furrowed under her bangs, a stuffed kitten hugged tight under her chin.  I sat down on the edge of the bed, thinking hard about how to answer her and get downstairs as quickly as possible.  The Princess is brilliant when it comes to drawing out bedtime, and she can smell a platitude a mile away.
“Well, honey, that’s a big question.  A lot of people would give you different answers.  But I’m going to give you an answer from a man named Descartes.  Yes, we are real.”
“Why?”
“Because we think.  He said, ‘I think, therefore I am.’  There you go.”  I stood, smoothed the comforter, and kissed the top of her still puzzled head.  “Goodnight.”
“But Mommy, I’m not done talking yet.”
“That’s ok.  You can keep talking to God as long as you’d like.”
“How?”
“By praying, sweetie.  Goodnight.”
So my four year old daughter is upstairs, either pondering her existence, Mommy’s sanity, or (hopefully) sleeping.

Comments

  3. You are in the running for coolest Mommy of the year. To be honest, the competition isn't that steep and there is no prize. But with the right marketing scheme, you could totally take home the trophy.

  5. I love all my readers. “Coolest Mommy of the year”? Elizabeth, I may print out your comment and frame it. Then I'll wave it at my kids every day of middle school they skulk around, embarrassed at my very existence. And “parenting brilliance”? Jennifer, I'll frame that one and bring it out when the twins are trying to get me to pay for their therapy because I'm the one who screwed them up.

    Believe me, Ericka, I've done the “ask your father” thing. But at some point when you're a SAHM, that doesn't work. Kids like instant gratification, and instant answers. So I figure God gave them to me as a natural outlet for my tendencies as a smartass.

    Liz, this may be the week I attempt my first “Dear You Guys” letter.

  7. Okay, you need to move in with us for a bit so I can watch & learn.

    Last night my daughter Izzy was asking me if the only way to get a baby out was to cut one's tummy open (I had a c-section, they know this and have asked me about my scar and I have explained it)….I dodged the question and just explained that the doctor gives you numbing medicine and you don't feel a thing! They are only 5, I'm so not ready to discuss vaginal birth with them.

  8. @Erin, it's so funny you said that, because my daughter asked me about a month ago, “Mommy, how does a baby get out of the mommy's tummy?” We were in the car, and the hubster just looked at me, laughed, and said, “It's all you, babe.” I have a policy of not making up medical stuff for our kids. I teach them the anatomical names for body parts (much to the horror of some of my friends), and I try to be as frank as possible without making a big deal about it.

    So I said, “Well, honey, the mommy pushes the baby out.”

    And she said, “Oh. Ok.”

    And that was that. I was braced for a whole slew of follow up questions (especially as I had a c-section, as well), but that was all she needed. If your daughter asks again, you might try that.

    @Rebekah, thanks for stopping by!

  9. Angie, I wish I'd had you to learn from when my son was young! You are awesome! BTW, I, too, taught my son the correct name for body parts.