A while ago, I shared the story of when i didn't understand why my dad was married since he didn't have a wedding dress. The lesson from this story being "answer only what a child asks, nothing more" always stuck into my mind. Many years later, something similar happened to me with my own daughter, and interestingly, on a similar topic too.
Married in the garden
About 20 years ago, i got married. We had opted for a civil wedding, to be held in a garden at a local hotel. We already had 3 kids so they were all involved in the wedding. The oldest one, my daughter, was 5 at the time, and was the flower girl. Everything was perfect, as the weather also cooperated and we had a sunny day with a touch of wind to keep everyone cool. It was the ideal summer day.
Driving to school
A few months later, I was driving my daughter to school and on our way there, we had to drive past the church. That is when Michelle popped the question to me "Mom, why didn't you get married in the church?"
What does she want?
At the moment I heard the question, I was a bit puzzled. Does she want to know about the fundamental reasons we chose a legal wedding over a religious wedding? If so, how to explain it to a 5 year old to satisfy her curiosity? Or maybe she had something else in mind? That is when my mom's wise words came to mind "only answer what a child asks, nothing more".
You tell me
Since i was not sure what she was asking, i returned the question to her "what do you mean?" That is when she replied "You know, in the garden, the wind was blowing my hat off!" Such a simple question, with a simple reasoning behind.
Thanks mom
I could not help but smile, thinking of all the useless explanation i could have given to answer the question, that was not even the issue in her head!
Yes, remember, kids use words without all the same meaning adults do, which can lead to amusing confusions.
Did you ever have to answer a question to a child only to find out that was not what they meant? Share any story of yours or that you have heard of, involving kids' words.
