Honestly?

How honest are you with your children?

We were watching Disney's Frozen together this morning as we put off getting ready for the rest of the day.

If you haven't seen Frozen (living under a rock?) then be aware there's a spoiler below. An early-on spoiler but still a spoiler.

We were watching the movie together and when the King and Queen's ship sinks below the rough seas Lois said "Oh no, the ship is gone under the water!"

She was saddened by it. This was the first time she had put it together out loud like that and I think the first time she realized what had happened. I said gently "Yeah, it did go under the water."

And she hit me with "But it can come back, right?"

There was a palpable pause.

And then I said "No."


There was a longer, more thoughtful pause. She looked at me and while she wasn't crying or anything, her eyes were thoughtfully sad.

"No?"

"That's right, honey. The big boat is underwater."

She quietly went back to watching the movie. I waited to see if she had any other questions but none were forthcoming.

We watched the movie in silence (except for laughter at Olaf's antics, of course) and had a good time. No questions, no worries, no explaining mortality to a 3 year old.

It was nice.

But was I too honest?

Would you have said "Oh, sure, honey! It can come back!" or would you have left it alone? Ignored the question?

How honest are you with your kids?