In the Pink: Eggs, Easter, and Other Life-Changing Events

It's Easter time at our child's kindy, the children sit around cutting out crocodiles, snakes, and other minor scaries and pasting them on to large egg­ shapei:l silhouettes. Though I caught on to the religious symbolism pretty quick (eggs... easter... duh!}, one of the kids had to spell out the biological meaning to me. "All these animals get born out of eggs," he said patiently. "Ohhhhh," I responded (not exactly the brightest crayon in the box...}, then feebly tried to crack a joke. uso, you wouldn't paste a picture of a baby person, because people don't come out of eggs!" Well silly me! I should have chosen my words more carefully - no way would our son let that bit of biological nonsense slip by. "No, mummy, there is an egg, in the mummy's tummy," he corrected. What could I do? (he did have the facts right), but nod and wonder whether all that time spelling out the facts of life had been well-spent.

I didn't have long to wonder. "Babies come from God," piped another boy, cheerily. As ours is not a religious household, I was a little unprepared for this turn in the conversation. While the child would have touched a chord with some (how many times have we heard the word "miracle" refer to newborns?), I 1ondered whether, in his household, this would be where discussion on that subject would end.