Conversation With a 7-Year-Old: Explanatory Edition

A: It's just that I really like to read! All the time! I mean ... no offence.

Me: Okay, I think we need to talk about what "offence" means. Do you know what offence is, what it means to be offended?

A: Yeah, I think I do.

Me: All right, what does it mean?

A: It means ... um ... it's just like when ... Okay, I'll give you an example to show what I mean.

Me: Go ahead.

A: Okay. I'm going to make it a law example, because you're a lawyer, all right? To make it a little clearer?

Me: Sure.

A: So, that town that wanted to kill the deer. The people who don't like killing the deer, they might be offended that people want to kill the deer. And that's why they're taking them to court.

Me: Wow, sounds like you understand it. But it's not just not liking someone doing a thing - it's that the thing hurts you or is really unpleasant to you. And could that ever apply to you reading?

A: Ha! No.

Conversation With the Boys: Spirituality Edition

[I've just tucked the boys into bed]

A: Mom? There are some people that are sort of Christians and sort of not Christians. They believe some of the Christian things.

Me: That's right.

A: And I'm one of those people.

J: Me too!

A: Because I believe, when you die, you go on to a new life. Like, you've finished this level and you're going on to the next level.

J: I believe that if there's an animal you really love, you might become the spirit of that animal after you die.

Me: That's pretty cool.

A: Do you believe in that stuff, Mom?

Me: Christian beliefs? I gotta say, kiddo, I don't really believe in most of the things that Christians do - not the things that make them specifically Christian, I mean.

A: But what about, like, wizards and ghosts and those things?

Me: Nope, I don't believe in supernatural things. But I do like to imagine they exist, and I think imagining things is pretty magical.

J: Well, I believe.

A: Me too!

[I now wonder whether we should have explored what they actually think "Christian" means]