Day 1349 - Sleeping Bee

We were outside blowing bubbles when Emma shuddered.  I thought it may have been because I was blowing bubbles with my nostrils, but Emma pointed on the ground and said, "Bee!  Bee!"

I looked down and sure enough there was a bee.  But the bee was upside down and shriveled, so his honey making days were over.  So I comforted Emma and told her not worry about the bee.

"But the bee is going to get us!" screamed Emma as Andrew looked at her with rolling eyes.

"No, the bee isn't going to get you because he's..."  And then I stopped and wondered if I should introduce the 'd' word:  a dick.  I reevaluated my thought because the bee really wasn't being a dick, but he was just dead.

After stalling a few more seconds, I told Emma, "The bee is sleeping.  So you don't have to worry."

"What if the bee wakes up and stings us?" asked Emma.

"The bee won't wake up," I assured Emma.

"But I wake up when I sleep.  Bees wake up too!" she reasoned.

I was getting annoyed with her developing logic, so I told her I would move the bee across the courtyard.  With my sandals, I scooted the bee a few feet to the edge of the flowerbed.  Thankfully, Emma was watching from afar because with each scoot, the bee disintegrated a little bit.  When the sleeping bee was far enough away from Emma, Emma happily continued blowing her bubbles.

As I watched Emma and Andrew blow bubbles at each others face until the whites of their eyes turned red and infected, I began to think about the concept of death.  I obviously know that they are going to learn about death one day, but as a parent you want to keep your kids as innocent as possible as long as possible.  Yet there's only so many times you can tell the kids that the hobo carcass in your backyard is taking a long nap.

I think Lisa and I are of the same mindset that there's no need to introduce certain concepts to the kids at a young age (e.g. death, sex, bestiality), but when they are old enough to ask you honest questions with honest curiosity, it's up to the parent to step up to the bat and say, "Wanna go to Disneyland instead?"

In a way, I do look forward to these conversations when the kids are older because I hope to be the type of parent that my kids can speak openly to.  But if it's anything about sex, I'm sending them off to their mom.  Mostly because there are still certain things about sex that confuse me immensely.