Monday, October 6, 2008

Why was I there or Where was I when this happened, Part II

I thank all my three readers for suggestions on how to deal with DD's existential questions. I am sure your answers would've worked on any other toddler/preschooler (could someone please clarify to a non-native American what she is?), but you just don't know who you are dealing with. (Ok, some of you, especially those in possession of six kids, probably do.) DD is already a bit ticked off at the way she entered the world, so I must be particularly careful about introducing any new ideas. How so? At approximately the same time as we were viewing our wedding photos, DD saw pictures of herself right after being born. Among them were a few shots of the sonograms when I was pregnant with her.

DD: Mommy, what is this?
Me: These are your pictures when you were in mommy's tummy.
DD: I was in your tummy?
Me: Yes, when you were a very little baby.
DD: Why?
Me: Because you were very little. So G-d put you in mommy's tummy to protect you until you got bigger and stronger.
DD: I didn't like it.
Me: Huh?
DD: I didn't like it! Why did G-d put me in your tummy? I didn't want to go there! I didn't want to be in your tummy.
Me: But you are already out, so that doesn't really matter, does it?

Apparently, it does. She started crying and was inconsolable for quite some time. And I do have a sneaking suspicion that she might be right about not liking her in utero living arrangements because she made her appearance two weeks early. So that is why I will not introduce any new ideas into that four-year old head. She might just ask why she was stuck so long in Heaven when she desperately wanted to be with her Mommy. And I wouldn't know what to answer. Again. But once again, in all seriousness, your advice is very appreciated, and I will probably use it with DS, or someone a little less demanding and particular.

P.S. If she finds being stuck in the tummy distasteful, I wonder how she will take this whole sperm meeting egg and forming zygote thing.

P.P.S. I was starting to get a bit sympathetic to DD's plight of not being able to attend her parents' wedding, with time travel so far impossible and us being traditional and waiting to have kids until after getting married. And then she said, "Mommy, your white princess dress is too small for you, right? You grew out of it?" No sympathy any more. Go straight to bed, young lady. Not vindictive at all.

1 comment:

  1. I'm beginning to think that you need to keep a secret bag of lollipops in the cupboard. When DD asks a question, just stuff a lollipop in her mouth and distract her with a game or video. It's not politically corrct parenting, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

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