Worrywart

My kid thinks a lot. Maybe too much. On the plus side, he’s bright and considerate. On the downside, he worries about strange and distant possibilities. Below are a few of our recent conversations.

Sunday Around 9:30 a.m.
As I’m finishing up breakfast on Sunday morning, I send Rowan to wake up Kyle. (I sleep in on Saturdays, and Kyle sleeps in on Sundays.) When Kyle finally comes downstairs, he’s laughing about the conversation he’s just had with Rowan.

Rowan: Mom made breakfast, but I want you to stay up here and play with me.
Kyle: But then my breakfast will get cold.
Rowan: I have an idea! I can get your breakfast and bring it up here. I’ll hold the plate really really still. And I'll walk very slowly and hold the railing. I promise I won’t fall down the steps like I do in my imagination.

Today Around 9 a.m.
We’re rushing out the door, and then Rowan asks me a strange question.

Rowan: Our doors are kinda small, right? [Looking around the house]
Me: What? [Grabbing our bags and pans of muffins for ECFE]
Rowan: Our doors are kinda small.
Me: Uh… I think they’re just regular doors. [Still rushing]
Rowan: I know, but they’re small for MONSTERS, right?
Me: Oh…[Stopping] Yeah…totally too small for monsters.
Rowan: Like a monster can’t even get into our house because the doors are so small.
Me: Yup, our doors are too small and our house is WAY too strong for that. Plus, I’ve never ever seen a monster around here. (A previous attempt to say that there is no such thing as monsters only caused more obsession.)
Rowan: That's what I was thinking.

Simple answers don't seem to work for this kid! And now he's started asking me what happens to people’s bodies when they die. “How do they drink milk?” “Why can’t they just keep their body all the time?” “Who do we know that’s really old?”

The more they know, the harder it gets!

-Angie