Kids might be small but they can ask some really big questions. Here is how an expert would answer some of these tricky questions.
How to answer the questions your kids ask
I get mad when my parents won’t let me do something I want to do. Why do they keep saying ‘no’?
-Evan, 10
From the time you were born, your parents have tried to work out how best to keep you safe and happy. When you were two, if you thought it was a good idea to stick things in power points they would have said no. You wouldn’t have liked that either, but now you can probably see why they said that. As you get older, you’ll realise that things they said ‘no’ to when you were younger probably make sense. What they’re saying ‘no’ to you about now will make sense to you one day too.
Since mum and dad split, mum says a lot of bad stuff about dod I don’t like istening to it. What can I do?
Isaac, 13
Mum might not realise how much what she says about dad hurts you. Can you tell her? If you can’t say it, can you write her a note? Something like, Even though you don’t love dad anymore, I still do. It hurts me when you say stuff about my dad. If she doesn’t stop, talk to your school counsellor and ask them to talk to your mum for you.
Why do my friends have nice big houses and we have a small one without much nice stuff?
-Insgen, 9 *
There are people who earn lots of money and have nice things. There are also many people with a lot less than we have. The main thing to know is that if you met kings and queens with loads of money, then met people in a poor country, you’d see that people with money aren’t any happier than people who don’t have money. What’s important is not what we have, but what goes on inside our house and how we show each other love, respect and kindness
It is a good thing if your kids ask questions.
At school we learn that alcohol isn’t good for you, so why do my parents drink so much of it?
Lincoln, 10
That’s a great question. Drinking too much alcohol can be bad for our health but some mums and dads drink small amounts of alcohol because they like the taste and it can be their way of saying to themselves, ‘It’s time to relax, at the end of the day. There are many healthier ways to relax – like going for a walk – but some mums and dads choose to drink alcohol. There are lots of ads that make adults think drinking alcohol is a good idea, and even though a little bit is okay, doctors say people should try really hard not to have too much and not to have it all the time. It’s a bit like kids with fizzy drinks: it’s not good for you so you need to make sure you don’t have too much.
Do not lie to your kids if they ask you a difficult question.
Read part 2 here.
