What All Does This Little Boy Think Up
‘Why do Kangaroos jump’ he asked. ‘Rabbits too…they also jump’. Not giving me time to correct him with ‘hop’, he continued to say, ‘frogs jump too…why?’
We were sitting on my bed and I was folding the laundry while he, lying upside down on our bed, played with his blanket. There hadn’t been any kangaroo story in books or tv and I was really surprised. What all does this little boy think up? How do these questions come into his head… 3year old, is an interesting age… definitely!
A few Yesterdays ago, he asked me if Hell had a bathroom. I was shocked… what got him thinking that?
Then earlier on there was ‘…how far is Jannah …can I fly a rocket to Jannah…what about petrol…do they have gas stations in space… what about clouds… how do they float… why do fish live in water… Why does Spongebob live in water?‘ I hadn’t even noticed!
‘Where did I come from?’ That was the best one.
I don’t really answer my son’s questions right away. I like to play with him a while before I answer, find out where the questions are coming from. What is really going on in his mind and so I asked about what he thought. He thought a while and then said, ‘ God gave me to you. Why? Why did he give me to you, mommy?‘
Because we wanted you.
Did you wait long at the hospital for your number?
Oh yeah… long time. But in the end they gave you.
That was supposed to be a satisfactory answer. It has a happy ending. 🙂
One of our most common conversations is about Igloos and Dragons. I have no idea why he likes those two things but, he does. Most of his stories revolve around them and he has a lot of knowledge on both those subjects. Again, I have no idea where he learns so much about them but he has his ideas. The first time he asked it was a simple, Where can I find an igloo? Ofcourse,it was right out of the blue and I was staring at him and wondering if his igloo was the same igloo that is an igloo in my world. It was (Alhamdulillah)! I told him they were in Greenland or Antartica. He liked the word ‘Antartica’ and remembered it. Next time it was a why and then a few days later where again. And then since then it has been a how. ‘How do you make an igloo?’ I didn’t know and it was bedtime. I tried to wind him down by trying to be as boring as possible but then he remarked that he knew. ‘You first take water, cool it… then add nimmak (salt) and then you take water again, cool it again and add nimmak (salt) again…and you keep doing that.‘ What he meant to say was, you make blocks of ice and use salt to keep them together. Yes, I was amazed… he turned the otherside and fell asleep.
It was another afternoon when he asked me about Dragons and yes, I asked him how he knew of dragons. Television… yes. I didnt know what to say becasue I was afraid he’d be scared so I said that they lived in castles. Big huge Castles. A few days later, much to my dismay, the topic came up again because he changed a channel saw Shrek on TV and he was fighting a dragon. I don’t let my son watch movies but here he was glued because there was a dragon in the story and a big green man! Ten minutes later, I managed to shut the TV off but the question, as expected, came up. This time we came to an answer together.
Dragons live far far far away in a castle behind mountains. (far far far away because I dont want him thinking that if he found a mountain somewhere there would be dragons)
He asked, ” If there is no mountain only a castle?”
Nope, no dragon. There has to be a mountain and there has to be a castle and it has to be far, far and far away.
That is not a satisfactory answer and I will not be surprised if we go looking for books about dragons at the library this week. We have so far read five books on Outer space and three books about aeroplanes. 🙂
MashaAllah and Alhamdulillah for healthy kids and healthy open minds. I know I am going to forget so much of this… already I have forgotten so much of his baby days. Babies do grow up… fast.
