Kids are well known for asking awkward or difficult questions, usually at some of the worst times! My kids do have a knack for asking very in depth questions while we are out rushing from place to place, particularly my eldest! As well as asking awkward questions in public, another typical place for kids to ask their random weird and wonderful questions is while driving in the car.
One of the most common most difficult questions my children tend to ask are about death and what happens when you die, although we haven’t experienced any deaths recently in the family they still tend to be naturally curious and worried about these topics, so they use opportunities like driving in the car to ask about this, and of course once one child has started asking then all three will join in!
According to Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, the child psychologist of Channel 4’s The Secret Life Of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds, there are some simple reasons why children are likely to choose car time as an opportunity to ask their questions:
“From the kid’s point of view you’re a captive audience! You’ve got your back to them, there’s no eye contact and you’re both strapped in. They can let their imagination run wild, use free association. You’re more of a sounding board, they’re not talking to you, they’re talking at you!”
Kiddicare talked in depth with Dr Elizabeth Kilbey to discuss the results of results of their survey of over 2460 parents about the awkward questions young children ask. It’s an interesting read and you can check out the full Q&A interview session here on the Kiddicare website.
And you can see more on the results of the survey over on their website too.
Kiddicare have also put together this handy flow chart to help you cope with left field questions while driving in the car.
This is good advice. Sometimes we all face questions that we don’t know the answer to, or that we’re not yet comfortable discussing – the classic one is “where do babies come from?” that can throw parents off when we’re not ready to divulge all of the details!
Parking the question for later and returning to it when you’re more prepared with a proper answer can sometimes be the best solution, and of course admitting when you don’t know the answer to something is important too. That way children will learn that it’s okay not to know the answer to everything, but that if you want to know, you can find out! Sometimes I do tell my kids that I’m not sure about their queries and will have to Google it later!
See the full flow chart on the Kiddicare website, and more info here
Parent blogger Hurrah for Gin also put together some illustrations to show some of the crazier and most random questions that she has faced in the car from her offspring.
Here are a few of them…
“Mummy… how do we know what’s real??”
This is exactly the type of difficult question mine ask as well!
“Why is the sun so spicy?”
“So how do snails work?”
“Mummy why didn’t you call me Dave?”
“How do you get the pork out of the pig?”
Think you’ve had funnier back seat questions from your kids? Share some your best ones over on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #CarSeatConundrums
Post sponsored by Kiddicare
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.