Six-Year-Old Anger

Once in a while Kenzo asks me questions about how old I am and how old mama is. Tonight he was asking me things like:

When Osamu is in first grade I'll be in third grade?

When I'm 14 years old Osamu will be how old?

When I become a papa then you will be a grandfather?

When I become a grandfather then you will die?

He asks about death sometimes and I always answer him honestly, but age appropriately, whatever that means. I think it means I just answer his questions in as simple terms as possible without offering up more than he asked. I figure if he's savvy enough to think of the question, then he deserves an answer. If he can't yet fathom the question then he's probably not ready for unsolicited information, especially about mortality.

When he asked me if I'll die when he becomes a grandpa I said maybe, unless I am lucky enough to live a super long time. Kenzo sometimes tells me he doesn't want to die, to which I respond, "That is something you don't need to worry about for a long time." That seems to work. For now.

I love his questions. They're getting more complex and challenging for me to answer. He asked me about destiny a while back. 

Sometimes I see a bit of myself in him in relation to handling emotions. He's only six, and he is just starting to understand a little bit about his various emotions, but I can see him struggling sometimes. Recently when he was upset about me saying no to going outside (I was working so we just couldn't) he was doing his best to stifle a tantrum. When he gets tired he's susceptible to that, like maybe we all are to a certain extent. 

I asked him what he was feeling and gave him a choice of some emotions. He chose sad, even though he appeared on the edge of six-year-old anger. I calmly told him it's okay to feel that way. I also said I was sorry that we couldn't go outside to play right now.

A few minutes later he was playing with legos. I asked him what emotion he was feeling now. 

"Cozy," he said.