This afternoon the children accompanied me on an errand after school. An older gentleman walked into the building with a pipe in his mouth and my wide-eyed children watched him with wonder and curiosity.
When we got back in the car, K said, "Mama, that man with the really big cigarette freaked me out." (Excuse me? When did you turn into a teenager, K?)
"Why, honey?"
"I thought he was going to smoke that big cigarette and just die right there in front of us."
(I could not stop giggling at this comment. Their little minds are so literal!)
"Sweetie, people don't usually just die in front of you from smoking. It takes a long time and they usually get sick before they die."
P piped in, "So, they start coughing then they die?"
"Well, generally, they are very sick in the hospital first before they die."
"What does it look like to die in the hospital?"
"Well, your heart stops beating. You stop breathing. Your eyes close, and even though your body stays in the bed, your soul--the part that really makes you laugh and cry and think, the part that makes you YOU--is what goes to live with God in heaven."
R, who had been listening intently then added, "Yeah, and they take out your skeleton and put it in a big kid classroom for everyone to see."
Oh. My.
14 comments:
LOLOL,your kids are gonna have nightmares with all the dying going on around them!
Who would have even thought R would notice the skeleton in the class room?? LOLOL
It's so great our children know that it is a bad choice to smoke.... BUT..... When we were traveling and stopped at a restaurant some folks were smoking outside. My daughter LOUDLY said ~~~ "Daddy, why would those people SMOKE? Don't they know it will KIILLLL THEM?" :)
I am laughing so hard about "being a skeleton in a big kids class"! But, at the same time, I am realizing that you are being triple-teamed every time a discussion like this comes up! I am sure these discussions go three times as fast in three times as many directions all the time. I always admire your calm and gentle replies.
Too funny about the skeleton!
I wish I could have seen your face when all this was being discussed. . . . hilarious!
I'm glad I'm not the only one whose kids think like mine. My two-year-old Connor recently had some comments about a pipe and I blogged about it, too:
http://selahgraphics.net/noendinsite/2008/08/15/another-anti-tobacco-incentive/
Conversations with a 4 year old can be pretty entertaining, but when you're having a conversation with three 4-year-olds, it sounds like it can get downright hilarious! Thanks for the great laugh. You're kids are so cute!
HILARIOUS!!! My dad and I are laughing out loud!!! Thanks for this!
Hey. I didn't know where to leave my comment... My name is Jill Williamson and I am Lindsey Williamson's sister in law.
I found you on her blog.I have been so encouraged by your readings.
I have felt the same things that you have written about from " bedtime prayers" and the future of my little girl's heart to also dealing with PCOS and the journery that goes along with infertility.
I will continue to read your blog...I enjoy it so much!
what a great way to explain death to your little people! can i steal that?!
These kids sure take health issues seriously! My 4.5 year old, Aidan, used to be SO afraid of cigarette smoke, that he would beg us to hide him in our coats and run whenever we saw someone smoking nearby.
Thankfully, he is over that now.
This is hysterical!
Your children are precious. I LOVE their insight and their conversations. Thank you for sharing!
angela in NC
ROFL! This was so funny I read it to my husband. Now he's laughing. Out of the mouth of babes.
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