more questions

A few days ago, my son Elijah asked me "Daddy, how did God make himself?" ....... LONG pause. I actually had to do some research and get back to him on that one. Yesterday, he asked me about electricity. "Daddy, is electricity hot like fire?", "yes son. It is." And you know what question came next: "Why Daddy?" ,    pause    "Well, because it carries power." "You mean like firepower Daddy?" (Oh no, is he thinking about weaponry? Must redirect, come on, think quick) "Uh, well, kind of, it's more like raw power." (what the hell is raw power? You gotta come up with something better than that...) "I know Daddy, it comes from Sunpower?" (Defeated by ignorance and an overpowering 4 year old inquisitiveness, I go along with it. Sounds good to me) "yeah, (nodding slowly) Sunpower." 

Well, now that I have done the research to find out that electricity is caused by electrons passing a negative charge to positively charged ions, I have to go back and explain to him that yes, he was right about firepower AND Sunpower (especially since the sun is a big ball of fire, duh) because electricity is hot because of ELEMENTAL power and passing of charges. This will require a lesson on the basic elements of nature (earth, wind and fire I guess). Then he will probably appreciate some kind of experiment (walking on a rug then shocking eachother).

Elijahs questions a joy and highlight of my day and also a constant reminder of how much I don't know.

Deep Questions

Today my 4 year old son Elijah asked me "Daddy, what does it feel like to die?" I am used to him asking me questions that I have never been asked before nor have a clue about the answer, so I said, "I don't know son. That's a good question. I guess it depends on how you die. If you die a hard death, it may be painful but if you die a peaceful timely death, it might actually feel good."
Although I am a world class bullshitter, I am always humbled to struggle to give the most honest, thoughtful, informed answers to my sons deep questions. And afterwards, I think about the question long afterwards and he has moved on to playing with his legos.

Can't take the heat

Context:
For my 35th birthday, my wife got me my ancestors. She got me a DNA test that will determine with 99% accuracy, what village (and modern day country) my ancestors are from. The test will go back between 500 and 10,000 years. I am so juiced. I can't wait to find out which African language, history and culture belongs to MY ancestors. There is a catch: The test is a patrilineal test and there's a 30% chance my ancestry will show up European. This should need no explanation.

Clown:
So last week we were driving out to Concord and it's 70 degrees outside. I am sweating. I ask my wife if she is hot. She flatly replies "no". I complain again about the heat and she says "You're not African!" and turns on the AC for me. I laughed, but if I get my results this week and they say my 17th generation grandfather is from Northern Ireland, I'ma be dissapointed.

Stay tuned for the results... unless of course they are European, then I just won't mention it ever again.

UPDATE: "I am an African! My results came back 100% match, Fulani Tribe. They are primarily in Gunnea-Bissau today, but they travelled all over Africa and came from the east. I am proud to have a connection to my people going back before the atlantic slave trade. My history no longer begins with "slaves" but with the Fula!