The other night, my 4-year-old son ran into our bedroom.
“Dillon has a question for you,” said my husband, who was following close behind and giving me a look that said, “This is a good one.”
“Mommy, where was I before I was here?” He flashed a smile that shows he knows exactly how cute he is and how proud he was to think of the question all by himself.
I glanced and my husband and nodded. Yes, this was a good one, indeed. My son wanted to know where he was before he was in the world. “Well, I had that very same question when I was your age. And I think before we are born, we are with God. And the angels.” I looked at my husband, for backup.
“I told him he was like a ghost battery. Like on Scooby Doo.”
“Huh?” Then I laughed. How bizarre. Dillon laughed too.
“I told him he was like energy you can’t see,” my husband explained. I nodded again, understanding we had essentially told Dillon the same thing, just in different ways.
“So Dillon,” I said, lobbing the biggest question of all, “what do you think?”
He wrinkled up his face, pondering. “I think I was with God.”
My husband shrugged. “The ghost battery is a tough sell.”
But so is the concept of being with God. I’ve had thirty-five years to experience and contemplate what that means to me. I want to freely share my perspectives, while giving my children room to consider these things on their own. Dillon’s question had come from his own imagining. And to me, that is truly fascinating. We can’t be forced into these realizations. We discover our truth in our own way. We can’t be afraid to be curious, to have questions.
Of course, it was just a matter of time before the conversation moved from spiritual things to the science of it all… exactly how do babies make their grand entrance? You can read the rest, over at Hybrid Mom.
That’s so funny!! I had almost the exact same conversation with Dalton not too long ago. Telling them they were with God is hard too. He now wants to go back and visit.
It’s hard for me to explain; because, like you said, I struggle with the exact same concepts.
Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
Right, how do you tell him that while visiting with God is good, you probably want to save the “in person” visits until much later, if you can help it!
It really is amazing how children see the world. That’s a great story. All the deep and probing questions in my house right now are related to sex and aren’t fit to print! You think 4 is fun , wait for 14 & 17!
By then, I’ll just hand them over to my husband.
I have no idea how to talk teen boy. But I guess I’ll learn.
Your husband’s so imaginative! I naively stepped into the “how are babies made” convo w/ my 4yo the other week. I had to change the subject because I didn’t know what to say! They’re just too darn smart sometimes.