Children have a natural curiosity and they’re born curious. As they go throughout life, they want to see and experience everything and the “whys” and “hows” never stop. In fact, if they’re lucky, they’ll never stop being curious. Being curious is what makes life interesting and helps people to learn a lot. One thing that’s important to understand is that kids don’t always know what they’re asking. What seems to us like a complex question from a child may actually be something very simple. A good rule of thumb is to not burden kids with more knowledge than they actually need. Keep it simple and if they need more information, they’ll let you know. In the joke below, the grandfather could have used this advice. Enjoy!
An 8-year-old girl went to her grandfather, who was working in the yard. She looked up at him and asked him, “Grandpa, what is secs?”
The grandfather was surprised that she would ask such a question, but decided that if she’s old enough to know to ask the question then she’s old enough to get a straight answer.
Steeling himself to leave nothing out, he proceeded to tell her all about human reproduction and the joys and responsibilities that go along with it. He went into intricate detail about how reproduction works, how it happens, and how it leads to children.
When he finished explaining, the little girl was looking at him with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide in amazement.
Seeing the look on her face, the grandfather asked her, “Why did you ask this question, honey? What made you curious about this”
The little girl replied, “Well, Grandma told me to tell you that dinner will be ready in just a couple secs…”
