Thoughts of Reincarnation

Today as we got ready for nap, Kael asked me a weird question. About 50% of the time I can usually figure out where his questions come from, from what he's done up to that point in the day. This one, however, really stumped me. I'll have to ask his teacher tomorrow.

Anyway, this is what he asked:
"Mom, when people die, when do they come alive again?"

I said "What?!"
I think I heard right, but wasn't sure. Kael is going to grow up thinking that I have a hearing problem since my first response to all his questions is always "WHAT?!"

Kael: "When people die... when they get dead, do they... can they... do they get alive again?"
He's struggling with finding the right words since his mom is clearly not so with it.

I'm slowly changing him out of his school clothes to give me more time to find the right words. There are no right words so I tell him: "No, honey. When people die, they just die. They don't come back alive again."

Kael: "Why not? Why can't they get alive again?"
Me: "They just don't. When something or someone dies, they...well, they stay dead."

Pause. I felt like saying something warm and fuzzy but didn't know what. My friend Jenny, a child psychologist, says she doesn't like misleading kids. It's better to either not say anything or to tell the gentle truth than to say something that's not entirely true. OK. Well, I can understand that. But it certainly doesn't help me in this case as I really didn't want to get into explaining "death is forever" with my 4.5 year old right before naptime.

I let that stew for a bit but did pick up the pace in getting his pre-nap routines in place (change of clothes, brush teeth, potty and book). But I wasn't fast enough.

Kael: "I don't like that, Mom. If someone dies, I want them to get back alive. It's not nice that they stay dead. OK, Mom? It's not nice at all!"

I have to say that I agree with him.