Mummy, why are we girls?
I get up early. By 6.15 I am down stairs in the living room with a laptop with a steaming cup of coffee. I try to get a good hour or so of work done before the kids get up.
But for the past week, HM (high maintenance), my 3 and ½-year-old, has woken up before her two older sisters and tip toed down the stairs with her blanket and pillow and snuggled in my lap.
I love this time with her. She looks into my eyes, revels in my undivided attention, and tells me something about her life: The name of a new friend. A toy she wants. A declaration that she doesn’t like Cheerios.
Today she looked at me and asked: “Mummy, why are we girls?”
I could hear my husband snickering from the kitchen as he poured his coffee. I sensed that he was thrilled that it was I that was asked the question.
Me: “Because when you are born you are either a boy or a girl and we were born girls”.
(It was too early to think of a better answer).
HM: “Why are we girls, mummy”
Me: “Because that’s the way god made you.”
(That was profound, I thought to myself, still feeling like I was evading the question.)
HM: “But WHY are we girls mummy.”
Me: “Don’t you like being a girl, honey?”
More snickering from the kitchen.
Treemama | 2nd Oct 08
Don’t you love these conversations! It’s hard to know when you’re going to get off with something simple or end up talking for an hour.
My seven year old still calls tampons, coupons as in “I don’t want to use coupons when I grow up”.
And my five year old still says, “Ow, I bumped my penis”. And we’ve had that talk several times.