As someone who asked way too many stupid questions as a kid, I can assure you that most of the inquiries to which you do not know the answer will come after 10 PM on a school night, whereupon you can say “You don’t need to know that right now, go back to bed.” By the time they wake up in the morning – assuming the question has even survived the night – you will either (A) have had ample opportunity to look up the answer out of view, or (B) be able to block it out with “Now’s not the time for that, get ready for school”.
Photosynthesis is, in layman’s terms, the extremely complicated chemical process by which plants produce sugar and, in the process, convert CO2 into O2. I’m sorry, I have this condition where I have to answer one rhetorical/unasked question every week or my head gets blown up by a shotgun.
The best way to deal with that situation is probably the tried-and-true “let’s find out together” method. It turns answering a question into a bonding experience, and your child is more likely to enjoy learning because it will remind them of you.
Hahahaha if you can’t teach your daughter what photosynthesis is, at least you can teach her a sense of humor. And how funny jokes can lead to new friends. Either way, you’re teaching her something.
Whenever I asked my mom a question she didn’t know the answer to, she would say “that’s a very interesting question! Let’s look it up!” We would spend so much time looking up every detail of the mundane question that I stopped asking her questions altogether just to get out of having to look it up for half an hour.
That’s assuming she respects you in the first place. :p
Best case she asks about Star Wars et al. and show off your vast knowledge.
As someone who asked way too many stupid questions as a kid, I can assure you that most of the inquiries to which you do not know the answer will come after 10 PM on a school night, whereupon you can say “You don’t need to know that right now, go back to bed.” By the time they wake up in the morning – assuming the question has even survived the night – you will either (A) have had ample opportunity to look up the answer out of view, or (B) be able to block it out with “Now’s not the time for that, get ready for school”.
My mom’s answer to anything she didn’t know was, “Here, I’ll show you how to look that up! It’s important to know how to find your own answers!”
My parents did that and as a kid I was all over the big encyclopaedia we had. I even learnt about how the babies are made from it and everything.
Babies are made from a big encyclopedia? Huh. That’s not what I heard….
Have you been taking lessons from Calvin’s dad?
Q: Dad, what causes wind?
A: Trees sneezing.
Q: Really??
A: No, but the truth is more complicated.
(15-Jun-1993)
Calvin’s dad explaining B&W photos was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read this strip 🙂
Ever thought about: “Ask your mom”?
Or even better: “Google is your friend”
That’s what Calvin did, too.
Is that a Kamiya reference?
Photosynthesis is, in layman’s terms, the extremely complicated chemical process by which plants produce sugar and, in the process, convert CO2 into O2. I’m sorry, I have this condition where I have to answer one rhetorical/unasked question every week or my head gets blown up by a shotgun.
If a question is unasked, wouldn’t it have to be unanswered?
Are you Canadian by any chance?
Not a dead ficus?
The best way to deal with that situation is probably the tried-and-true “let’s find out together” method. It turns answering a question into a bonding experience, and your child is more likely to enjoy learning because it will remind them of you.
Now I’m pretty interested in the experiment by which you are to find out what photosynthesis is.
Hahahaha if you can’t teach your daughter what photosynthesis is, at least you can teach her a sense of humor. And how funny jokes can lead to new friends. Either way, you’re teaching her something.
Whenever I asked my mom a question she didn’t know the answer to, she would say “that’s a very interesting question! Let’s look it up!” We would spend so much time looking up every detail of the mundane question that I stopped asking her questions altogether just to get out of having to look it up for half an hour.