Out of the Mouths of Babes

My son has the most quirky take on life at times. He really cracks me up quite often. For your enjoyment, here's a few of his most recent comments.

When his sister squealed with delight and kicked her feet in a grocery cart:

“Mom, do you think she’s got visions of candy canes, dancing in her head?” (This was in March, not December!)

When racing cars on playstation:

“C’mon guys! You want a piece of meat? You want a piece of MEAT?” (I have NO idea where he heard this--but his father, Uncle and oldest cousin are VERY HIGH on the list of suspects.)

And this week...religion. Lately, he's been asking me a lot of religious questions about God and Heaven and Jesus. In the past, he's gotten God and Jesus confused. He'll see a picture of Jesus on something and say, "Look, Mom, there's God." Or, when he's not sure, he'll ask,

"So, is it God the one we can't see, or Jesus? Oh, yeah, God. Yeah, but I HAVE seen him before though, Mom. A long time ago. And the Tooth Fairy. She was purple."

So, for some reason he started talking about kings the other day. And he asks me,

"Mom, was God a king?"

Well, because the Prince Charles/Camilla thing has been in news, I jumped to the thinking of Kings and Queens and was thinking out how I'd explain to them what they are. Then, I started thinking about Jesus being called the "King of Jews" and I wondered if I should explain that to him. And my mind was whirling around that as I paused before I answered him. He's had a LOT of questions lately, on rather difficult/deep things so I wanted to answer it in the best way for him to understand.

So, after hesitating, I said,

"Are you talking about when they call it the 'Kingdom of God.'?"

"No, you SILLY." (My son's favorite reply to everything right now.)

"Hmm...well, God's kingdom is what we call the Earth because he created it," I replied.

"Mom? "

"Yeah? "

(grinning) "Um...I'm pretty sure that I am smarter than you now. I mean, I KNOW that I am smarter than you."

He then proceeds to talk about what he learned at his Lutheran preschool in detail and explain to me that God is the king of all creation.

As parents, we tend to "over-think" so many things. Trying to explain deeper meanings, or the "gray areas" to children who really see things very clearly in black-and-white. I wish I could go back to that way of thinking myself. So, I think my son was right--HE IS smarter than me. And, I can tell I'm in for a LOT of interesting conversations to come. I hope I can handle them!!!