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You Want to Know the Truth About the World? Ask a Child…

Why is she so fat Daddy?” …looking at an obese woman struggling to get out of her car at the supermarket.

“I like your funny hair.” …said to a surfer with dreadlocks.

“How do you know that?” …asked of a religious, end-of-the-world crusader holding up a placard and yelling that “We’re all going to die and only God can save us!”

These are some of the random comments I’ve heard from pre-teen children over just the last few weeks. Parents of young children know all to well how uncomfortable children’s questions can sometimes be. We should relish the beautiful and at times brutal honesty they display without hesitation, though that is sometimes easier said than done.

Rarely is there any sacred ground. Honesty and a genuine unquenchable curiosity are two of the most wonderful traits of children; ironically, they’re also the two traits all to often lacking in adults. (more…)