Dad, Why?...Another One for the Book

Having four young people in the house I have the opportunity to hear this question a lot. Dad why.....followed by the question.

As a parent I am glad to see that my children have the inquisitive nature to explore situations, events, and even analyze my own behavior. Sometimes I am astounded by the depth of the question and the advanced understanding it takes to formulate the question. (Being a guy, questions dealing with understanding, human interaction, and emotion are all in my advanced, even beyond me, category.)

Recently, as we watched the Cars movie on television for the 30th time, my youngest daughter, Princess Dabba, was curled up in my arms, having a nice father daughter Kodak moment, looked up at me and posed one of those questions I just had to post about. Dad, why..... (Here comes the question) do you have hairs up your nose? What?, chocking on popcorn? Lieber who was sitting with us starts to laugh hysterically. A couple of the other kids in the room chuckle then want to focus on the movie and my answer.

Granted, I had to overcome the urge to laugh out loud. But, not wanting to discourage the little inquisitor or make fun of her question I decided to try to understand what caused the question. This pause also gave me time to come up with the age appropriate answer, one more suited for a 4 and a half year old, and gave me time to realize from her vantage point she see up all our noses all the time.

So I gave her the answer that we all have little hairs up our nose to filter pollutants from our respiratory system. It helps to prevent infection and keep us healthy. She looked at me horrified! She was grossed out. The other kids listening nearby also made sounds of being grossed out.

This means it was time for a dad answer. Princess, as you get older, hair will grow from your ears, your eyebrows, and the stuff grows from your nose. Oh! Okay she said, back to the movie.

I knew I just had another entry for The Book!