A Kael Question

I haven't written up any of our conversations in a long time and it's not because I'm lazy. Well, I am, but that's not the real reason. The real reason is because we haven't had any. Sure we have conversations but nothing out of far left field. What he's been doing lately is throwing out observations and questions from far left field.

Erin thinks I should write all this stuff down in a journal because Kael asks some really really good questions. Her favorite by far is his "Do monsters drive the trucks?" Monster Truck question. I don't have a favorite as they are all my favorites but some are definitely harder to answer than others. Especially those pertaining to body parts and bodily functions.

His latest stumper happened last week as we were driving to school. Let me first explain that he has an understanding of the police force and their function in society. Our neighborhood has a pretty good police presence. Not because we're a high crime area, but because they get easy money from writing speeding tickets from all the speeders coming down the hills so Kael sees people getting tickets all the time. His "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up" answer has been (since he turned 3) and still is "A policeman so I can catch bad guys." He's fascinated with the motorcycle patrol because "they go super fast" (thanks to Dad for glamorizing that).

So we're driving to school and from out of nowhere he says: "Mom? When the motorcycle police catch a bad guy.... how do they take them to jail?"





Uh... Wow. That was a good one. I've never thought about that. Do motorcycle cops actually catch bad guys? Or do they only write tickets? But they're cops too, right? So of course they would catch bad guys. They wouldn't shackle the bad guy to the back seat, would they? No, of course not.

"Mom? How do they take the bad guys to jail?"

"Oh. Well, I think they would have to call for a police car to come and help. Then they put the bad guys in the back seat to take them to jail."

"Oh." He has a thoughtful look on his face as he mulls that over. Then he goes back to his Leapster, leaving me to wonder where in the world did that come from?!

It's pretty cool to see how his thoughts and questions have evolved as he matures and gets a better understanding of the world. I really like that he questions everything, that he sees and understands enough of his world to ask these kinds of questions in the first place. It makes for reading bedtime stories a long drawn out affair (and a pain in the ass): Why did he do that? What does that mean? Why did that happen? but I'm glad he's curious enough to question the Why's and the How's. He's nosy -- just like his mom!