Questions

Why is it that some kids ask questions they already know the answer to?

"Is there more tri-tip?" (Hmmm...well, the fact that I JUST TOLD YOU THERE'S MORE may give you an inkling...)

"Is it New Year's Eve?" (Oh, I dunno...do you think that when I tell you over and over that it's New Year's Eve, the last day of 2009, I mean that metaphorically?)

"Is it cloudy?" (No, that's just a monstrous section of grey cotton candy above our heads.)

"Is G a baby?" (A baby?! What?! No! She's practically a grown up.)

"Is my birthday in January?" (Why? Why would you ask me that when less than an hour ago, you told me that your birthday is January 5th????)

"What is the square root of 8.4352?" (I dunno. Get me a calculator.)

I kid you not. I have been asked every one of those questions today, and each time a kid asked one, he already knew the answer! (Except for that last one...)

But seriously, am I alone here?? There must be other children who vie for their parents' attention by asking questions that have already been answered. Right?

By the way, I love my kids.

Comments

I've had a number of interesting comments and inquiries from people over the years. Now, I generally don't get offended by people's remarks. I think they are usually completely innocent and come from genuine curiosity. It would just be nice if people could naturally know that some of these questions should be asked in private, not right in front of our kids...we have made a commitment that we don't talk about the kids' histories with anyone, including family. Their stories are their stories to tell, so the dirty details remain between us and them. And usually, that's what I tell people when they ask about specifics of the kids' pasts.

When walking around with the boys at this age:

"Awww! Are they twins?" (Um, I know they look a lot alike, but....)

"Are they quadruplets??" (Seriously!)

"Why don't you just have your own kids?"

or, in another instance, sympathetically said, "Oh, you couldn't get pregnant?"

"He (referring to J-Man) would be better off in foster care than in a white family" Yup.

"How many more kids are you going to take?!"

"Why doesn't someone just sterilize those kids' mom??" (I can understand this question given birth mom's history, but still--not a great question to ask in front of the kids!)

"He's probably acting that way because of his past."

"Is he/she a drug baby?" or, "Was he a crack baby?" or, "Was his mom on crack?" or, "Did their mom do drugs and alcohol?"

"Why did the kids get taken away?" (which, by the way, I think is a valid question, I just don't really want to share that with people.)

"There can be a lot of problems that manifest themselves when he gets older."

"There's nothing you can do--genetics play too big a role."

I really am ok with inquiring minds. As a matter of fact, before we adopted, I was probably a lot more likely to ask some of these questions to people. I enjoy talking about adoption and our kids. But I don't enjoy people assuming things about our kids just because they've come from foster care.

So, for those of you out there who have adopted, what has been one (or more) of the most outlandish questions you've received?

Everyone else, what do you think?