Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Write Tribe- day 3- Seven Questions!

"Mamma, what is this?" asked my little one holding a small prototype of the eagle with wings spread out. I had brought it as a dangler for the car.

"You know what it is, don't you? Why don't you tell me what it is?"

"An Eagle?"  he asked raising an eyebrow, only like he could. He looks so cute when he does that!

"Hmm..." I nodded.

"Why is this eagle black while this one", he said fishing out another from behind his back, " is colourful?"

"Because it isn't an eagle, it's a macaw." I said.

"But caw caw is also black no?" he said the "caw-caw" referring to the crow.

I sat him down, smiling at the innocence, "A macaw is a type of huge parrot which has big colourful wings."

He looked at the eagle for some time and then came the next question, "Why is the eagle's mouth open?"

"He must be hungry".

He seemed to be thinking again.

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

"What?"

"The eagle."

Oh dear, I thought, I have no idea how to distinguish between a male and female eagle. I looked at it from all sides, with no inkling of what it could be, "Could be anything, I don't think I know."

"Where's the baby eagle?" came the next question.

If I said it was in the shop, and I didn't buy it, he would ask me why I didn't buy it. If I told him there was no baby eagle, he will tell me there would have been and I didn't search properly. While I wondered what I should say, the elder one chipped in, "See, if this is mamma eagle, then it needs pappa eagle to have a baby, and if it is pappa, then it needs mamma to have a baby. Since there is only one eagle, there is no baby."

Before I could say Bravo for a well thought out answer, I stopped mid track, taken aback at what he said. Did he really know THAT? I mean, he is just 9 yrs old, I don't remember ever discussing anything remotely related to the birds and bees with him. How could he know? Well, since the topic had been broached, I decided I might as well use this opportunity to talk to him.

As I still cleared my throat wondering how to begin, it was the younger one again, "Why?"

Dear god bless my soul.

"Because," said the elder one without blinking his eyelids, "Our pappa goes to work and gets us whatever we need, so the baby eagle will also need it's pappa to be around and bring it food while the mamma eagle looks after it."

The younger one was visibly satisfied with the answer.

And as for me, I felt rather silly!! Kids don't need a lot of explanation, and there is no need to get paranoid about answering their innocent questions. It's all about giving them as much information as their age merits with a straight face and with a smile!


21 comments:

  1. :D I get nervous giving answers to my nephews and nieces. Perhaps I'll be taking into account what your post said in the end. :)

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  2. He he he, that was quite a nice conversation :D

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  3. Innocent questions? But answering them sometimes becomes too, toooooooo difficult. The other day my son was asking what is condom mummy? Is it a dish or something? I said: Yes, it’s a flavored dish just to connect it to the ads featured on TV.
    Nicely put up.

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  4. Your kids are so smart and cute. Glad that they sorted the issue between them. True talking to them with a smile and without any hesitation is the key! :)

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  5. Hahaa!! That's plain cute!! Kids are smarter than we give them credit for :)

    And here's wishing you good luck for the day you do end up cornered with the birds and the bees talk!! :D

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  6. hehehe that's a good thing about kids... they create answers of their own :D such a sweet post :D

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  7. Interesting dialogue between the brothers. How nicely they saved your embarrassment.

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  8. Aww...Such effortless writing. Simple but beautifully written. But am telling u this younger generation is far smarter then us.As if born technocrats.

    http://sailorswiferamblings.blogspot.com/2013/09/seven-smells-to-smile.html

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  9. How cute. Kids do teach us how to be better parents, don't they?

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  10. Kids always have a million questions and sometimes coming up with all the answers to quench their thirst for knowledge can be overwhelming. Thank goodness for Google!! LOL

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  11. haha cute kid, Titli:) Kids knows much more than we do and and...bout bees and all. Love this post coz they have a way of troubling us:)

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  12. haha cute kid, Titli:) Kids knows much more than we do and and...bout bees and all. Love this post coz they have a way of troubling us:)
    www.vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com

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  13. A jolly good conversation. Having conversations with innocent little children teaches us a lot about convincing abilities. Loved reading it.

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  14. A jolly good conversation. Sometime when answering innocent questions from kids we learn a lot about our convincing abilities. Enjoyed reading the post.

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  15. I love it whenever you talk about your kids. Their concepts are so cute. Its my sincere request please please bring more of their sweetness to us. Now making husband read it :)

    Richa

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  16. Very sweet and touching. Love the advice to just answer simply in a way that matches their age and experience. They're not asking for a huge scientific explanation. They just want to be reassured.

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  17. hahaha!! Such a cute conversation!! Looks like you may well need to answer the difficult question soon though! :D

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  18. Now THAT was an interesting "Tweny questions" :) And, your elder kid seems to be a big help :) Needless to say, it was a fun read as well

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  19. I have faced some weird questions from my lil brother and my niece. Kids are too smart!

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  20. it was a fabulous read and loved your realization at the end

    you can check out my post here-
    Karan - Brother

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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person..deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me!! your comments will be appreciated..

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