Love is The Truth - Honesty and Kids

One of the most magical things about having six year olds is that they believe truly anything is possible.  I wish I could bottle that kind of hope and positivity.  The minions let us share with them a world filled with Santa Claus, Narnia gateway wardrobes, and Totoros around every corner. It's wonderful.

This past weekend we hosted our annual card tournament while the minions had a sleepover at Nana and Papas. One of our guests, very thoughtfully, brought us a bouquet of red tulips.  We had a vase with some pink ones that were reaching their expiry date, so I changed the water, swapped out the flowers, and commented that Molly would think the flowers had turned red.  Chris disagreed.  Sure enough, upon their arrival home Molly burst into the kitchen marvelling at how these tulips had turned from pink to red. Why wouldn't she?  Earlier the same week she had seen our floppy flowers regain their spring thanks to some fresh water and careful snips to the stems? We told her the truth about the flowers, and went on with our day, still enjoying the pretty flowers.

Our "magical" flowers

Enter the truth, and answering difficult questions. My kids have started to ask some pretty big questions, and as hard as it is to answer some of them we try our best to provide honestly and candour at a level they'll understand.  Where do babies come from? Why do some people get cancer? What's a pervert (a question inspired by Home Alone 2)? Why was I hyper breathing when I was born? Why do some people survive heart attacks and others don't?   We only answer what they ask, and fully admit when we don't have an answer.  All the same we seek truth and honesty, even when it's awkward and difficult.

Last week a friend took their own life, and up until now, for the minions, death has always been something for the elderly or visibly sick.  We took some time to talk about depression, and how you can be sick in your own head, and how this pain can be just as deadly as cancer. They asked some good questions and then moved on.  I'm sure they'll have more in the weeks and months to come.  And we'll answer them, one by one, as they ask them.

Molly and her belief in the tulips were a welcome reminder to me that believing in magic and seeing unbridled beauty isn't naive.  She asks some of the hardest questions I've ever had to answer and has a perspective like no one else.  I hope her appreciation for beauty and magic something she never loses, even though I know we'll face hard times together, it may just be the silver lining we all need when things get really tough.

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