One of the coolest parts of parenting so far has been getting a fresh glimpse of the world around me, through the eyes of my children. As they discover their surroundings and try to puzzle out the meaning behind all of the many mysteries that surround them, it reminds me of the wondrous aspects of nature and human innovation that I take for granted every day.
Like all children, my three kids have many questions about how the world works and why it works that way.
A random sampling of their recent questions:
- Why does the refrigerator get cold?
- Where does electricity come from?
- How many feet above the ocean is our house, and how did it get up here?
- How does the key turn the car on and make it go?
- Where does the thunder come from and why is it so loud?
- What is the difference between organic food and regular food?
- Will I be as tall as my brother? If not, why not?
This last question actually ignited a pretty interesting conversation in our car today on the way home from collecting the younger brother from preschool.
We were talking about how tall boys and girls grow, and how old they are when they stop growing. I mentioned that one of my older brothers grew until he was 20, while I myself stopped growing at the age of 13.
"Why?" my son asked. "How does your body know when to stop growing?"
"There is a sort of map in your body," I tried to explain. "The map is in every cell of your body, in every part of you. It tells your cells how to develop and what to become."
"A map?"
"Yes. It's like that. The scientists call that map your DNA."
"DNA? I have DNA?"
"Yes."
"And my DNA tells my body how to become and how big to grow?"
"Yes, something like that."
"Does my map tell my body how to make my eyes and my hair and my fingers?"
"Actually, yes! It's a little complicated though."
"Where does my map come from?"
"Well, half of it comes from your mommy. And half of it comes from your daddy. We each give half of the map to you, which we pass forward from our own DNA."
"You have maps in your bodies too?"
"We do. Anyway, when a mommy and a daddy decide to put together a baby, each of them makes a copy of half of their map - and together, they make up the map for the baby. Their maps combine to make the baby's DNA."
"So did I get your DNA, or my daddy's DNA?"
"You got both. However, each of us gives you one set of directions for every part of your body - and there is always a dominant set and a weak set of directions."
"What is dominant, mom?"
"It means strong. Both of us give you directions but one set is strong and clear, while the other set may be weaker. Whichever set of directions is strongest will dominate over the weaker one.
So, for example, your daddy has bright blue eyes. And I have brown eyes. Which of us do you think had the stronger set of directions when our DNA blended to make you guys?"
"I have pazel eyes!" cried our little boy. "My sister has pazel eyes too!"
"Well," I said, "Do any of you three kids have bright blue eyes?"
"No," they shook their heads.
"I have brown eyes like you," announced the oldest boy.
"So which of our eyes do you think were dominant, mine or your Dad's?"
"Yours."
"That's right," I nodded. "All three of you have brown in your eyes, and none of you ended up with blue eyes. But, maybe there is a reason for that. Your daddy needed to wear thick glasses growing up in order to see the world. I have fantastic eyesight and have never needed glasses. So, when our DNA combined, all three of you got stronger eyes than your daddy has. Your bodies selected the strongest, healthiest eyes."
"Cool!" smiled my bigger son.
"But whose hair do you think was dominant?" I added.
"Yours?" he asked hopefully.
"Uh, no... Look around the car. What color hair do all three of you have. Is it mine?"
"No!" he laughed. "It's Daddy's!"
"That's right," I smiled. "All three of you got your father's hair. So he had the dominant DNA map for hair color."
"But mommy," the little guy raised his voice. "My daddy is losing his hair! He doesn't have much hair."
"Good point," I laughed. "I still think he is very handsome, just as he is. But maybe the two of you boys will want to consider the fact that you are both very likely to begin balding before the age of thirty."
"Why, mommy?"
"Unfortunately for you, baldness runs on BOTH sides of your family! My father (your grandfather) was bald before I was born... and since your daddy has the same problem, I would say chances are very large that you both inherited male pattern baldness."
"Oh no!" the little boys giggled. "We're going to be BALD!" At ages 4 and 5, growing bald seems hilarious to them - almost as funny as if I'd told them that our last name is actually Potty. Bodily humor charms my sons to no end these days.
"Don't worry, you'll still each be mighty handsome," I smiled.
"I want to see my DNA map!" the youngest one hugged me as he climbed out of the car and headed for the front door of our house.
"Me too!" I thought to myself. "I'd LOVE to see our family DNA map. That would be incredibly cool!"
For the first time in years I was reminded of just how incredible the human body truly is - its regenerative capacity, its reproductive ability, the creativity and magic which somehow infuse our biological propagation and self-preservation as a species.
What a total joy to recall the mysterious, awe-inspiring nature of the physical world. I feel so blessed by the opportunity to see life through the eager (brown-dominant) eyes of my children!
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