We may dismiss our children’s questions as silly, but sometimes it is more important to answer them.
“Mum…why is the sky blue?”
“Dad… how does a baby get in Mummy’s tummy?”
At one point or another, as a parent, your child asks you a question that is something you probably don't want to answer. Or don't know how to answer (you want to say "Ask Google why the sky is blue). And if they haven't they will.
But sometimes, those silly questions have a deeper meaning.
And need to be answered.
Railway Children, an international children's charity who 'fight for vulnerable children who live alone at risk on the streets, where they suffer abuse and exploitation', has started a campaign prompting parents to answer their kid's awkward questions.
Questions like:
"Why am I not thin?"
"Why does no one at school like me?"
Railway Children say that in the UK every 5 minutes a child runs away from home. By answering their awkward question and opening up the conversation about how they feel might decrease this.
In Australia, Homelessness Australia says that in the 2011 Census, 17,845 Australian children under 12-years-old were homeless and 10,913 12 to 18-years-old were homeless. That is a combined 27% of homeless people were under 18 years old.
See the video below, and to support this worthwhile cause, upload your own awkward conversation here.
Want more? Try these:
How could two little girls with the same name & age have such different lives?
The three words we all need to stop saying to our daughters.