War, Cancer and the Bus

B was upstairs this morning playing with his army guys. I heard him say "These are the Afghanistan guys and these are the Americans". If he is in ear shot of ANYTHING, he picks up on it. Whether we are listening to the radio and the news comes on, whether we are watching TV or he just hears someone in passing talk about things. So, he has been asking about war.
"What is a war Mom?"
"It is when you try to get rid of the people doing bad things."
"Why are we at war with Afghanistan?"
"Because some people in Afghanistan are doing bad things and the Americans are trying to help. Pastor Chip's son is over in Afghanistan fighting."
"You mean by himself trying to shoot the bad guys?"
"No, other Military guys are over there."
"What is the military?"
"They are people that help to keep America safe. They are either in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines."
I started naming more people who are in the military.
"What if we don't win Mom?"
"Well, we have lots of people over there and they are trying their best."
So it went.

I am also collecting the 'pink lids' off of the yogurt containers to send in so money will be donated to finding a cure for breast cancer.
"Mom, why are you keeping those lids?"
"Because I am going to send them in so money will be donated to help cure cancer."
"What is cancer?"
"Cancer is a disease that makes people very sick and sometimes they die."
"How does cancer make people sick?"
"Cancer is bad cells in your body that grow and make the good cells go away."
"What are cells?"
I can't recall how I responded to this one, but I am sure it was good :-)
"How do they get in your body?"
"The doctors don't really know how they get there."
"How do they get rid of the bad cells?"
"They use something called chemotherapy"
"What is chemotherapy?"
"It is like taking a big laser gun and shooting at the bad cells hoping they will die."
So, this conversation continued. A little kid with lots of very good and curious questions. Seems like any answer I give is always met with another question. He takes in so much, I can't even imagine what he will be like and what kind of things he will retain when he is a few years older. I certainly don't lack for 'adult type' conversations throughout the day. He is always keeping me on my toes and challenging me to find ways to explain adult things to a very smart 5 year old.

We rode the city bus on Thursday to the mall, just for the adventure of it. While we were sitting on the bus, B turns to me and says "Mom, how does the bus know where we are going..." The boys had fun, although given the bus schedule we had 3 hours at the mall. It proved to be a long time with 2 tired boys. Seems with every passing day B gets more and more tired yet getting him to nap is quite a few. Fortunately J still takes naps almost every day.

We are having unusually cold weather. The high is 29 and the low is 2. Not quite ready for this, but it will warm up.

I can't have a post without a picture or two. The boys were trying to help their dad and prove how strong they are. (Amazing how they were so willing to smile for the camera when they were showing their strength...such boys.)