Children often have magical thoughts that sometimes make us shake our heads. What makes us nervous is that children suddenly ask strange questions without us being able to prepare the answers first. Finally, there is a moment of silence and it might make you want to pretend to be a carpet. This is normal because children are still unable to think logically and have enough knowledge to answer the burning curiosity in their brains.
However, there are actually several template questions that new parents can write down. You may also need an answer key for the ability to survive when your child starts asking questions that make us awkward. Here are some tips!
1. The most common question and one that might make you feel awkward because you are confused about how to answer it is “Mom, where was I born?”
You can explain to your child that he came from your stomach, but he might ask more questions like how that can happen. Well, you can explain honestly but don’t need to be too detailed like that married adults will hug each other, sleep together and then the father will give cells that join with the mother’s. Then they will swim to the mother’s stomach to finally grow until the mother’s stomach is not enough and finally born. In time, the child also needs to learn about this, as part of sex education.
2. Another question that may arise is when he is not accompanied to sleep, but instead sees his parents sleeping together. “Why are mom and dad sleeping in the same bed?”
Don’t feel awkward and throw this question to your husband right away. For this question, you can answer that married adults who love each other can indeed sleep together in one bed. If there are no further questions, it is not too urgent to explain in more detail to the children.
3. When your little one sees something different about the opposite sex, he might ask, “Why does my male friend have a penis but I don’t?” (or vice versa)
You don’t need to panic, you can explain that everyone has differences such as older siblings who have curly hair and cousins who have straight hair, as well as women and men who have different genitals. You can also explain the real name of each genital, for example, a girl’s is vulva while a boy’s is called penis. Don’t be embarrassed or even make strange nicknames, just give a short, logical answer. It’s not rude.
4. He may also start to be curious about things he cannot see, so the question “What is God?” will arise.
You can answer that He is the one who created humans, animals, stars, moons, and everything in this world. If he remains curious and asks, “Does that mean He is very big?” you can answer by saying that He is indeed big but like the air that we cannot see.
5. If you decide to get pregnant again when your child is still small, he or she might be curious to see your belly and ask, “How come there’s a little brother or sister in your belly?”
Just like the first question, you can answer it with a logical answer but not too detailed. You can give the answer that the baby is still very small and his body is still weak, so it takes 9 months in the stomach to become strong.
6. The phenomena that he sees every day will also arouse his curiosity, one of which is the question “Why is it dark at night?”
You can explain the concept of the earth revolving around the sun by saying that at night the sun is not above our earth, but it is in the other hemisphere. The sun is like a lamp, so if it is not there, it will be dark.
7. Children’s questions are also usually spontaneous when they see what is in front of them. One example is “Mom, why does Dad have a mustache under his armpit?”
You might laugh at this question, but your laughter might be mixed with confusion in answering it. However, you can answer it with a simple answer like “Yes, because Dad is an adult. There are times when a mustache will grow on the body of an adult.”
When answering questions that arise, you need to answer calmly and as clearly as possible. If possible, you should also give a logical answer and not make it up so that he is not confused and feels cheated and then does not believe it when he finds out the real answer. In the end, your little one might just want his question answered briefly, he doesn’t need to be too detailed because for that, there will be a time, hehe. Hopefully, mom and dad won’t be confused anymore when answering!