AS PART OF TheJournal.ie’s weekly Family Magazine, we wanted to create a space for parents to share their views. A place where mums and dads could share their experiences, lessons learned, and even mistakes along the way.
This week, we asked our panel to open up about some of the funny, adorable and downright bizarre questions their little ones have asked them.
According to a survey by Kiddicare in 2016, questions from the back of the car are usually the trickiest to answer, with 50% of respondents left stumped by a ‘car seat conundrum.’ Other common spots for questions out of left field were in bed (27%) or at the dinner table (17%).
So, what are some of the more, er… curious… questions our panelists have fielded from their kids? Check the best ones out below…
Top L-R: Olly Keegan, Alan Dooley, Denise, Ken Hyland. Middle L-R: Ríona Flood, Ross Boxshall, Marta Lisiecka, Denise Cumiskey. Bottom L-R: Kait Quinn, Susannah O’Brien, Derek McInerney, Suzie Kelly
‘Why is Charlie drinking from your bellybutton?’
My five-year-old nephew, peering very closely while I was breastfeeding! It was such a cute misunderstanding… and a good opportunity for him to learn about breastfeeding.
- Kait Quinn
‘Is that Harry Potter’s castle?’
My three-year-old, asking about the cathedral in Dundalk where we live.
- Denise Cumiskey
‘What’s wrong with your teeth?’
My son Malachi, to the nice neighbour who had stopped to chat with us while out for a walk one day. He had false teeth…
- Susannah O’Brien
‘Would you like me to walk you through the life cycle of how I learned to float?’
My five-year-old son, who has quite the analytical, logical mind, talking about learning to swim on holiday. I wasn’t sure what was more bewildering – the fact that he knew what a life cycle was or the fact that he was about to walk me through the steps he took to float.
- Alan Dooley
‘Why does it smell when you poo?’
My daughter Rosie, while waiting in the checkout line at Tesco. Everyone laughed.
- Susannah O’Brien
‘Are they going to shoot someone?’
My three-year-old, anytime she sees a Garda car. Too much TV watching I think.
- Denise Cumiskey
‘If a mum gives birth to a baby, and somebody gave birth to that mum before, and someone gave birth to that mum, where did the first ever person come from?’
Our now eight-year-old, back when she was four, leading to a series of discussions about whether we came from single cell beings, or jellyfish or God. She then went and asked several other people.
- Ross Boxshall
‘Why can’t people just stop doing wars and then everyone will be okay?’
A lovely question from my daughter, when something came on the radio about Syria in the car one day.
- Susannah O’Brien
Not a question as such but my three-year-old started telling people that Darth Vader was her father after watching that scene in Star Wars. She thought it was the truth for ages.
- Denise Cumiskey
‘Who makes the leaves?’
My three-year-old is very curious about the world around her. My responses are generally even more creative than her questions. I find I defer to God a lot for a simple answer!
- Denise Cahill
‘Why do old people smell weird?’
My eldest daughter Rhiannon, after visiting her great granddad in the nursing home.
- Susannah O’Brien
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