Tough Questions

Thomas is a questioner.  He is inquisitive.  He has a wonderful imagination. He is nosey.  To be quite honest, he just wants to learn about things, be prepared for things, and thrives on knowing what comes next.  Come to think of it - he's a lot like me.

But today's lunch time questions caught me off guard at first.  I didn't know what prompted them or why he seemed so concerned.

What happens if some bad person breaks into our home?
What happens if some bad person tries to climb a tall ladder and sneak into these windows?
Will we fight him off?
Should we hide from him like we do in our Lock Down drills at school?
Will the police come and take him away to jail?
Who will protect the girls?
What if Daddy isn't here to protect us?

Instead of avoiding the questions, dismissing them as nonsense or even asking him "why are we even talking about it," I had to remind myself that young kids try to figure out their world and that if we don't give them the answers, they find it out on their own which can ultimately lead to them being misinformed.  I want to lay a foundation for my kids that I am willing and able to talk about the tough subjects.  I want more than anything to show Thomas and the girls my willingness now, so that hopefully they will each feel comfortable coming to me as a teen when the questions get REALLY tough!

So today, I tried to calmly and rationally talk to him about his concerns while I was making lunch.  As I said before, I'm not sure what exactly prompted his questions, I just know he had them and I wanted to show him I cared about his worries, but at the same time I wanted to reassure him that his Daddy and I will always protect him and his sisters.