The Parent Test

The tough questions. They always seem to come out of nowhere, don't they? This afternoon we were driving into Concord to bring R1 to a birthday party. She was sooooo excited about it she had been counting down the minutes all day. It was a bowling party and we spent the drive practicing our singing of Happy Birthday (and the Star Spangled Banner LOL), talking about bowling and guessing what colors the shoes would be. "Mom, what does it mean to go to sleep permanently?" See what I mean? Out of the blue.
You have to know R1. There is no skimming over the answer, changing the subject or trying to ignore her altogether. No only does she want to know what it means, she wants to know how it happens, how it feels, who, where, what and especially why. . I think I did OK....I hope I did. We talked, we discussed examples, we cried together about Cherrie, then I announced that we were almost there, dried our tears and laughed again about shoes being all different colors.
She stayed for two hours then I picked her up and we came home for dinner. I was still mulling the conversation over in my mind. Did I give her too much information?
She always asks such specific questions! "How did Cherrie's whole body and her bones and everything get to fit inside that little box?" That was the question a few months ago. I told her that Cherrie had been cremated and that her ashes were in the box. I later heard her tell someone that her dog had been "re-maded" and was living in her heart now. Out of the mouths of babes.
So-- you want to know the question for the ride home? "Mom, what is a heart attack?" Ugh! I guess I should have married a doctor!