Satellites and fairs

Jason: How does the satellite dish go all the way up to the satellite in space?

Sydney: Why was there a fair in Portland today?

Electricity, aliens and softness

Jason: How go people who make batteries put electricity in them? Why does gravity make you float in space? How do people know that aliens are real and alive?

Sydney: Why are doggies alive too? Why are pillows and blankets so soft?

Spiderman and space

Jason: I don't have any questions tonight because my brain is weak. Tell me more about radioactive blood - how did black Spiderman become black Spiderman, and did Spidergirl get bit by a spider too?

Sydney: Some day, will there be places in space - like McDonalds, and icecream places, and donut shops? Maybe a farmer's market too? I would like to go to space, but I might be a little bit scared when the rocket first takes off, because it would be really fast.

Spiderman and fairies

Jason: How did Spiderman get his powers from a spider bite? When I make the explosion that creates a new planet, I want to take some of the gas and use it to make another star so the planet will have more light.

Sydney: Are fairies real? I think they are. When I was in the backyard with Charlie today, I saw little white fluffy things that were smiling at me. I think they were fairies.

Colors and memories

Jason: Why are doggies lots of different colors, but people are just one color?
Me: Really, you think people are just one color?
Jason: No, actually two: brown and light.
Me: I'm not sure about that. I think there are more than two colors of people.
Jason: You're right, Mommy. There are three colors: lightish, brownish/lightish, and brown.

Sydney: How do they decorate castles? You know what I really miss from back in Maryland? Alex, Lindsey and Sophie.

Planets, noses and marriage

Jason: Why is Pluto not a planet anymore? Which planets are filled with gas? Did you hear that when I am a scientist I am going to get all of my scientists together and make an explosion that creates another planet? It will be green and black and have life on it.
Eric: What will you call it?
Jason (after thinking about it awhile): Sound. Because when we have the explosion that makes the planet everyone will hear it. Construction workers will go to the planet to build houses and stands and ice cream places. It will have skyscrapers and airports and forty-eight-seventy states.


Sydney: What is inside of our noses?
Me: Hairs to help filter the air before it goes in your nose and then into your lungs.
Sydney: No, I mean the things that you take out of your nose that are dry.
Sydney (before I could answer): Why did Dominic say that he wanted to marry me when we were on the trampoline? I told him no thanks because Gianluca already wants to marry me.

Rings, time and sickness

Jason: How did Saturn get rings around it? It doesn't seem that late, but you said it's late. The little hand on the clock is pointing to the 8, but what is this other hand that keeps moving?

Sydney: How do we get a cold? What makes us sneeze? Why can't we touch glass things?

Guns and roses

Jason: Why do people have guns? It's because they hunt and kill animals, right? But that's not good because the animal will not be part of its family anymore. I don't like guns or bow and arrows. Bow and arrows could shoot someone's heart.

Sydney: Why are princesses, flowers and butterflies so beautiful? I wish I could wear a flower in my hair while I wear a princess dress. I would love that.

Meat, homelessness, laughing and dresses

Jason: I have a comment, not a question: Meat comes from pigs - no, it comes from meat cows. Why are there homeless people? Why when somebody laughs do other people laugh?

Sydney: Why are princess dresses so beautiful? I am like a princess girl because I love wearing beautiful dresses.

Poop and boats

Jason: On Dinosaur Train, they showed dinosaur poop. There were three piles of poop - two were green and one was brown, and they had little things in them. Why did the dinosaur who only eats leaves have brown poop?

Sydney: Why can we not see God? How do they make posters? Can just you and me go on a cruise one day, because I have never been on a boat?

Genetics and aging

Jason: How come some people are so tall - like basketball players? How come people have different colored skin?
Me: It has to do with your parents - if they have dark skin, then you have dark skin. If they have dark eyes then you have dark eyes.
Jason: So if you go past a leaf, do you have green eyes?

[10 minutes later, Jason came downstairs to say his throat hurt. Afer I gave him Motrin, he asked: How does medicine make you feel batter? Does it fight with the hurtness?]


Sydney: When people get old they can run really, really fast, right?
Me: As you grow up you can run faster because you are stronger. But, when people get really old they sometimes get slower.
Sydney: Really old like Great Grandpa Sidney? He died before we were born, right? Is he in heaven? I wish I could have met him because I think he was really funny.

Aliens and Giants

Jason: Why do aliens have to travel in space ships? When I grow up, I am going to build a spaceship that has a magnifying glass that can tell if an alien is good or bad. It will look into their body and then words will spell either "good" or "bad". How did God talk to Moses?

Sydney: Why is soda only for adults? Is it because adults don't grow anymore - they don't keep growing into giants, right? Have you ever seen a giant?

Making the rules

Jason: Why did the dinosaurs come before everyone else?
Me: Well, just like humans rule the Earth now and can do whatever they want, dinosaurs used to rule all the other animals and do whatever they want.
Jason: But I am a human, and I can't do whatever I want.

Sydney: Why are light bulbs hot? Was that a very good question, so can you scratch my back now?

Fish and other non-humans

Jason: How does a fish die when it's cooked? Why can't we see God?

Sydney: Why do animals eat different stuff than people? Like, they drink water froma stream and eat little bird eggs that people don't eat.

Deer, planets and princesses

Jason: How do deer get those things that grow on their heads - antlers? I know - when they are a kid they don't have them, but when the become as adult those antlers grow. How did the other planets come from the same explosion that made Earth? They have to be careful to stay away from black holes, because they will get sucked in and that's not good.

Sydney: Why are princesses not alive - the princesses in my poster I mean? What is it like to be pretend and not real? I wish that they were real because they are so beautiful.

Animals, animals, animals

Jason: Why did God want people? Where did all the animals come from, and the dinosaurs before them?

Sydney: What would it be like to be an animal? I like being a person, but I just want to know what it would be like to be an animal. If you tell me what it's like, I might want to be one. Actually, I want to be a mermaid, no that's not an animal - I want to be a dolphin. Or, maybe I want to be a bird - I'd love to fly.

Fish and hay eating

Jason: How come sharks eat fish - that's not good, the fish will miss its family. What would happen if a chicken smelled the seeds we planted behind our house, and he came and ate them?

Sydney: How does God make people again, I don't quite get it. What would it be like to eat hay?

Teeth and reexplanations

Jason: How do teeth get wiggly? Then when one falls out, does the tooth fairy come and give you a lot, a lot, a lot of money until you are an adult?

Sydney: I still don't know how the Earth moves around so slowly. Can you tell me again how it does that?

Colors and rockets

Jason: Why does the Earth have so many colors? If it was just black, people would be bumping into everything - each other, the wall...

Sydney: What would it be like to go up in a rocket ship? Does a rocket ship have a steering wheel? If not, that would be bad because you would just go into the hot sun or moon and get burned.

confetti!

Jason: How do they make confetti? Why do giraffes have such long necks?

Sydney: How do birthdays come? When we move back to Maryland, will we come back and visit here?

[Note: Today was Jason and Sydney's birthday party, that is the reason for the talk about confetti and birthdays]

invisibility and the factory

Jason: Why is air invisible? How do they make tires, and how do they pump up tires? How does the pump get air?

Sydney: Do they make crowns in a factory? Do they make cake in a factory?

Guest stars

[Note: My parents, who are visiting from Maryland, put the kids to bed tonight. This is what they said:]

Jason [In response to whether he has any questions for Grandma]: Nope, I don't have any of those...I need more time to think.


Sydney [In response to whether she has any questions for Grandpa]: I only ask questions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Lightening, lava and marriage

Jason: How does lightening come? I know what the sun is made of: gas and lava. But where does lava come from?

Sydney: What helps us grow and grow and grow, until we are an adult? How do friends meet friends who they marry?

Birthday on the mind

Jason: How do you get to be one, then two, then three, then four, then five, then six, then seven, then eight? How does that happen?

Sydney: Why do people get older on their birthdays? How do they make cake?

[Today was Jason and Sydney's 5th birthday!]

Explosions and birthdays

Jason: Were all of the other planets made from the same explosion that made the Earth?

Sydney: What is it going to be like to be five years old? I don't know what kinds of things I am going to do.

[Note: Tomorrow is Sydney and Jason's 5th birthday!!]

eyes and rain

Jason: Why do people have different colored eyes? Like I have blue and you have brown? Does Daddy have blue eyes?


Sydney: How do they make rainbows when it rains? Like, are they tiny little drops of different colored rain?