I recently heard on the radio that, according to a study, the average 4 year old asks 400 questions a day. If that's the case, then my 4 year old is clearly above average. Not that I begrudge her inquisitive mind, but adorably curious questions such as, "Where does rain come from?" are met in equal measure by practically unanswerable questions like, "How did they make the sink?" or (and this is answerable, but I don't want to) "How did Daddy put my baby brother in your tummy?"
I know there are moms out there who hear those questions and say, "Why, what an excellent question! I don't know the answer, so let's go look it up!" And then they pull out their encyclopedia from between their beautifully put together family scrapbooks and their perfectly executed Pinterest projects, look up plumbing and sinks, maybe make up a song about it, and then head to a home improvement store to watch someone put together a sink, and then come home so this mom can make a healthy, gourmet dinner, with her inquisitive little angel assisting, never mind the mess, because life is about the EXPERIENCE.
That mom seems annoyingly perfect. She probably isn't, and after she's cleaned up from the EXPERIENCES of the day, she collapses on the couch with a really big glass of wine and tries to reassure herself that she's a good mom, just like the rest of us. Her "good mom" cred is just more overt. But I'm NOT that mom, and I'm far more likely to just, you know, make crap up when I don't know the answers. "How did they make the sink?" "Elves made it with magic tools." "Really?? Where do the elves live?" "Under the floor. They come out at night and make stuff like sinks and bathtubs and toilets. They're called 'Plumbing Elves'. Every house has them."
Yeah, I lie to my kids. They believe in Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and plumbing elves. My daughter thinks that thunder is how the clouds know when to rain so that the flowers grow. She thinks that her nightlight has a real ocean in it. She thinks that her Sheepy eats lunch while she's at school, and that's why he's never hungry. She thinks that her Daddy put her baby brother in my tummy by using magic. And sometimes, as I'm considering how to answer "What makes the car go?", I think, "Ugh, it would probably be better for her if we looked this up later, even if she's not really going to understand the internal combustion engine." As much as I think a little mystery and magic are an important part of my kids' lives, I also want them to learn. I promise myself that we're going to buy a kids encyclopedia, and we're going to look up the tough answers, and we're going to go out and illustrate those answers through EXPERIENCES, and maybe I'll join Pinterest and make handprint wreathes and other crap with the kids, and I'll let them help with dinner even though the mess will make me crazy, and I'll really be a GOOD MOM.
And then I say, "Engine elves. Every car has them."
