Death from a Child's Perspective

On the way home from the tennis courts tonight, the air bag light for the passenger seat was flashing off and on for no apparent reason.

We were discussing whether we thought the air bag was really off, or if the sensor was malfunctioning.

This brought on the following conversation.

7 yo: Well, if someone died, I bet it should be mommy or daddy.

10 yo: Why?

7 yo: Because they wouldn't want one of us to die!

10 yo: But it would be really, really bad if dad died.

(Mom is feeling the love.)

Mom: Why is that?

10 yo:  Because we need his paycheck to pay for things.

(Dad is feeling the love, too.)

Dad:  Well, that is why we have life insurance.

10 yo: I know, but that money wouldn't last for very long, would it?

Mom:  It would pay off the house, help with college funds, and last for quite a few years if we were very careful with how we spent the money.

10 yo: Oh, that's good.

Dad: Yeah, it all depends on how you would use it.  You definitely couldn't go buy something really expensive and use a bunch at one time.

7 yo: Like a Lego set.  We couldn't get a Lego set.

Me: Ummm.....yes, son.....like a Lego set.