Awkward Questions

Yesterday, in church, Steve and I ended up watching the two children of some very good friends of ours--the mom was home, sick, and with the dad being in the bishopric, he had to sit on the stand, and since the kids like us, we volunteered to sit with them--an eight-year-old boy named Jonathan and a four-year-old girl, Katherine. We figured it would be good practice, you know?

In advance, I have to admit that these children were much better behaved than I ever expect my own kids to be--we gave them paper and pens at the beginning of the meeting, and they were quiet throughout the meeting, so it was probably the easiest babysitting job I've ever had.

However, halfway through the sacrament meeting, I did encounter an unforseen issue....Katherine was sitting quietly next to me when she noticed that I was resting my hands on my tummy, a habit I've picked up since noticing that my stomach has become somewhat of a shelf. She poked at my tummy and asked, "What's in there?"

I smiled and whispered back, "I have a baby in my tummy!"

She looked a little bit surprised. "Really?"

I nodded, and she thought for a bit. "How did it get in there?"

Oh. That question. Ummmm..... "Heavenly Father put him in there." I supposed her parents wouldn't really appreciate me going into details, especially in the middle of sacrament meeting.

"Okay." It seemed to appease her, and, relieved, I turned my attention back to the speaker.

A couple of minutes later, she turned towards me, confused. "How is the baby gonna get out?"

Umm....."Through a special hole." I don't want to lie to her or tell her something that would confuse her even more, but at the same time, is it really appropriate to teach someone else's kids that kind of thing, especially in church?

"Oh. Do you poop it out?" She looked concerned.

"No. It's a different hole." I'm sure by this point I was beet red.

"Okay..." She sat still for a moment, pondering that point, and thankfully, the conversation veered into other topics.

Actually, my mom and dad always had us watch a certain movie: The Miracle of Life, which explains not only how the baby gets there but how it gets out. I still didn't really ever figure it out until my mom sat me down when I was about 12 one day and explained it all to me (true story--one of the more awkward moments of my childhood). We've already made a similar purchase for our children in advance: this movie. I highly recommend it; it's actually really fascinating, and I think it might be Steve's favorite movie right now. He watches it all the time.


So I suppose this is good practice for me. I'm sure your kids don't always ask the big questions at the most convenient times, do they?