talking about "serious stuff" with 3 yr olds

[KKmama]

My 3 yr old has been noticing more stuff about the world around him, and I'm trying to respect his curiosity and give him good answers. I realized others must be hearing some of this, too, and I'm just curious about how *you* discuss things.

Eg... We saw a woman in a wheelchair at the grocery store, and we talked about what it wa and was for, why people can't walk sometimes (which was a big deal), how people in wheelchairs might want us to treat them....

We saw a homeless man with one of those ubiquitous cardboard signs at a red light. Talked about why he was there, how we should help other people, what the food donation at church last Sunday was about, how if we needed help we'd want people to help us, too...

What do your kids notice? How do you keep it real without scaring them?

[annethcz]

When DS was 3, he began to understand the concept of death, and brought it up in casual conversation. I also recall having a number of theological discussions.

Rather than bringing up those topics, I would wait for DS to bring them up. And then I was careful only to address DS's questions. I found that if I started to go into detail or tell him more than he had asked about, I'd 'lose' him. He'd lose interest. So, because of that, I completely followed his lead and gave him only the info that he asked for. At this age, it's so easy to overwhelm little ones.