Marvelous Mystery

Early every morning as I wake my kids up, one of them always demands that I lie down with her for some time before she gets up. (The other one wants her Father to lie down with her for some time). Most of the days, I end up yielding to her request. Today was one such day when I laid down with her and whispered softly into her ears about the loads of work I had to do and how it is impossible for me to lie there with her for a longer time. Hence I requested her to get up and finish her chores quickly. More often than not, she gets up with such words of mine but today, she asked me a question that I least expected from her at that moment. She asked me, “Mama, please tell me how did I come here to this world?”

I was shocked for a moment. I tried to contemplate on the question that she asked and to finish the conversation quickly and to save the precious morning hours, I said, “You were sent to me by God.”
She did not stop there. She asked me, “Where was I before I was born and how did he send me to you?”
I said, “There are certain things that you will understand as you grow. All that you need to comprehend now is that you were sent by God to this earth. God blessed us both with you and your twin sister.”
She continued, “You once said I was born in a hospital. How did you know that I was in the hospital?”
How would I ever explain things to her? Why would I kill the innocence of a child? I simply said, “It is only with the help of doctors that kids can be born. God informed me that it is time to go to the hospital to get you both. I followed His orders and went to the hospital. That is all about it.”
She said, “Mama, but God never talks!”I was annoyed. I said in a harsher tone this time, “Swathi! Do you realize what time is it now? You better walk to the bathroom quickly and brush your teeth NOW. Rest of the questions can be asked once you come back from school. Is that clear?”
That was it. She got up and did her jobs much faster than usual.

Well, what was really wrong with what she asked? The world is a wonder to them. They need to know things only by interrogating. I had asked several question to my parents when I was a kid, who answered only some and ignored many. When my daughters raise questions to me, I feel that it is my duty to answer them by procuring data from all over the world if I don’t know the answer myself. But some questions like what she asked today really confuse me. How would I answer to her?
Some of the other questions that they had raised from time to time are as follows. Though I have answered many of them, I still am to answer quite a few of them. Here they go
Who found sky, trees, sun and the moon?
With what is a house made of?
When there are lots of river and ocean why is there a difficulty for water?
To which place does the sun go soon after it sets?
Why does the moon assume different shapes every day?
If you say moon is made of rocks don’t we have the fear that it may fall?
When a bounced ball comes back to us why don’t things like the sun, star and moon fall down?When and why does it rain?
When will my toy become real?
Who split one year into 12 months and who decided the number of days in each month?
Why there are so many languages?
Why do people die?
When I grow big, will you become small?
Will I become a boy once I grow up?
Who invented money?
Why should we work to get money?
Why did you marry?
Whom should I marry?
Why don’t you call a penguin an animal?
If God answers to prayers then why do people ever fall sick?

Though I have forgotten many of the questions that they asked, I managed to pen down at least a few so that they can join the fun as we read these questions after some years.It is indeed a lovely feeling to be a Mother and watch our kids grow. How inquisitive are they? How innocent are they? How honest are they? How wonderful are they? I wish I go back to their stage and learn everything all over again!