Socrates, Plato, Aristotle...Nathan?

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, law, justice, validity, mind, and language.^[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions (such as mysticism or mythology) by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument.^[3] Philosophy comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία [philosophia], which literally translates to "love of wisdom".

(thank you Wikipedia)

Nathan is definitely the philosopher in the family. Lately, as I tuck him into bed at night, his line of questions has gotten more and more difficult to answer. This is probably compounded by the fact that I have sworn to myself that I will NEVER lie to my children. I'll tell them the truth, and if I don't know the answer, I tell them that too. And I'm not kidding (at least not about the important stuff). This includes the fat man in the red suit - if they ask if he's real, I will have a very hard time not spilling the beans. But I digress.

In the last month, Nate has started to question everything. And this isn't the type of questioning I would expect from a preschooler. He wants to truly understand, and he wants answers. "I don't know" isn't cutting it any more.

So let me illustrate with a few examples.

A month or so ago, back in the farmhouse...
"Mommy, what kind of prayers do you say at night?" Well, I say thank you for my 2 great boys, thank you for daddy, thank you for family...things like that.
"What else?" I might ask for help with a problem I'm having.
"What kind of problem?" Well, maybe I need some help being patient with you. Or maybe I need to remember to not get frustrated with Nile.
"What else?" I ask for blessings, and to keep everyone I love safe. Like you.
"How does God hear prayers?" I don't know exactly, but I know that he must.
"Why?" Well, because when I ask for something, I usually find that it happens.

A few weeks ago, the topic of conversation was heaven.
"What does heaven look like?" Well, I like to imagine it's a very beautiful place.
"Where is heaven?" Nobody really knows, honey. You don't go there until you die.
"I think it's another planet." Okay.
"But it can't be another planet, there is no life on the other planets." Well, honey, there could be life on another planet far away from our solar system.
"You mean like the planet Cybertron?" Perhaps.
"But where is heaven?" I don't know.
"Well, how do you get there?" When you go to heaven, your body stays on Earth. It's just your soul that goes to heaven. Your soul is the part of you that has your thoughts, your feelings, all the important parts of you. But your body stays here. So we don't know how we get there.
"How do you know it's real?" Honey, sometimes we don't know. We just feel it. I really believe that there is something that is out there for us. But I won't ever know for sure.
"Will I go to heaven?" Yes. But not for a very, very, very long time. I want you to stay here with me as long as possible. Okay?
"Okay." Goodnight.
"Goodnight."


A few nights ago...
"What do angels look like?" I don't know, honey, I've never seen one.
"Why do they watch over you at night?" To make sure that you stay safe. But they don't just watch over you at night."
"They look like a glowing light." They do? Have you seen one?
"But I don't see the light at night!" I don't think they glow, honey.
"How can they watch you in your room?" They can see you even though you're in the dark in your room. They have special powers.
"Like Superman's X-ray vision?" Yeah, kind of like that.
"But they live in heaven. How do they travel to Earth?" Well, they don't travel like you and me. They don't have bodies, so they can move around much easier.
"Like through walls and things?" Yes, like that.

And Monday...
"How do babies get in the mommies' tummies?" Hmmmm.... (desperately searching for words to explain this to a 2 year old...) Well, when the mom and the dad decide they want to have a baby, they put a little piece of the mommy with a little piece of the daddy and those two pieces combine to form a little tiny ball. It grows bigger, and bigger, then it grows arms and legs and a head and it turns into a baby. And you know what happens after that, right? When the mommy has the baby?
"Yeah. But how does it get in the mommy?" The most important part is when the baby is here, and we can hold it and love it, just like baby Emily. That's a lot better than when the baby is still in the mommy. You don't have to understand the rest when you're four. When you get older it will make more sense. Okay?
"Okay." (as I breathe a huge sigh of relief!)