Questions...

...from an almost 5 year old. James turns 5 the end of next month. And lately he's been asking really deep-thought questions. Like, "Mama, who made the stars and planets and the entire universe?". Or, "Mama why does sissy not have a pee pee like me?".  And he's really interested in knowing where things come from. For instance when we were at the grocery store yesterday he asked, "Mama, how does all this food get here, where does it come from?". And he's really curious about the human anatomy, "Mama, before your poop comes out of your butt...where does it come from?".

Lately both Madeline and James have been curious and asking questions on how a baby is born, how does the baby come out of a mommy's belly. So I explained. Madeline understanding a little better that it sounds pretty painful. But James asks the other day, "But Mama, I know how a baby gets out of your belly...but where does the baby come from, what is it made from?".

Oh geez.

It was easy to answer that God made the universe. That his sissy does have a pee pee, girls privates just look different. That the food in the grocery store is shipped from a bigger warehouse store. That your poop is the result of the food in your tummy being digested. But what are babies made from...

Oh geez.

How do I explain this one to an almost 5 year old.

So for a split second I thought about explaining the egg and the sperm. But I thought that might be too complicated for his mind. So I used a metaphor. I told him babies start out like a seed, one you plant, that is fertilized and starts growing into a baby in a mommy's belly. I smiled after I said this, and James responded:

"Oh I see, so you get a seed from the dirt, put it in the mama's belly and it turns into a baby! Okay."

I think I'm okay with him thinking we are all cabbage patch babies for  now, and I'll have a talk with him in a few years about where the "seed" comes from. :)