Evolution vs. Creationism

The running question for Kael the past three or four weeks has been a pretty good one. Even I'm pretty impressed.

As you all know he's our science and nature boy. His interest in dinosaurs comes and goes, depending on what he's watched on TV or pretend played with his friends. At the same time, with no little amount of worry on my end, he's been interested in where babies come from, how they get there, who can make babies, etc. because of Blub. Then you add his interest in space and planets and other life forms -- and his questions become pretty interesting and more often than not, a little confusing.

Sometime last month, he connected the dots (all of them) and asked me where we were when dinosaurs were around. I told him that there weren't any people around, that people didn't exist yet. I was prepared to explain about fossils and excavation sites and offered to take him to see dinosaur bones at the Natural History Museum.

That would have been the easy question. But no. Nothing with my children ever comes easy.

Instead he reasoned it out in his head (speaking out loud): "If people weren't here with the dinosaurs a long long time ago, then who 'borned' us?"

That's Kael talking, by the way.

I thought holy cow. I tried to be vague and said something like "Well, we didn't come until later, after the dinosaurs died." Hoping against all hope that would be enough.

Kael, like a dog with a bone: "So if we came after the dinosaurs died, then who was our mommy? Who had babies in their tummy? How were we borned? Were there buildings like this?"

I couldn't believe it. My kid is not even 5 years old and he's already asking about evolution?! That's what schools are for! So I wouldn't have to worry about stuff like this! Like Sex Ed! This topic isn't even covered in Crystal's and Jimmy's WHY? book. I know because I looked!

My thoughts swirled in my head. Do I even want to enter the realm of introducing the basics of the primordial soup -- and open a whole 10 gallon can of worms? Or should I just take the easy way out and explain Creationism and leave it as the work of the Divine Creator -- thus allowing me to use that as an answer to everything?

Of course it would have to be the former because if I answered with the latter (Creationism) Truong would have a conniption fit.

In the end, I took the coward's way out and told him to ask his Chu Ty (Uncle Thien) -- the uncle who works in the Evolution and Ecology Department at UC Davis. The one whose job is all about evolution and the one who would be able to answer all the questions that I know will arise once Kael gets his answer to who borned us.

So Thien, if you are reading this, be prepared...