Where are children found: what to answer and why not to say what was found in cabbage or brought by a stork
Kids are curious and want to know the answers to everything. And now, finally, the X-hour has come. The child asks where the children come from. And here it is important not to lie. The answer must be delicate but honest.
In most cases, mom and dad are not ready for such a question. As a result, the baby receives the answer that his parents once heard from their parents.
This happened many centuries ago, and it is still relevant today. For a long time, people have come up with different explanations to get rid of why.
Here are the most popular ones:
- Found in cabbage. The version is widespread among the Slavic peoples. And French children know that they find boys in this vegetable. Girls, as explained by their parents, can be found in rosebuds.
- The stork brings. This explanation is popular with parents around the world. Even where storks have never existed.
- Buy in a store. In Soviet times, mothers did not go to the hospital, but to the store. The older children were looking forward to their mother with a new purchase. Sometimes the children helped to raise money for this.
Kids hear these versions all over the world. True, in some countries other very interesting versions appear, as a rule, applicable only to their locality. For example, in Australia, babies are told that a kangaroo brought them in a bag. In the north, the child is found in the tundra in the reindeer moss.
As for the history of the origin of such legends, researchers have several versions on this score:
- For many ancient peoples, the stork was a symbol of fertility. It was believed that with his arrival, the earth was revived after hibernation.
- According to one of the legends, souls that are to be born are waiting in the wings in swamps, ponds and streams. Storks come here to drink water and catch fish. Therefore, this honorable bird “delivers newborns to the address”.
- Cabbage babies are invented because of the ancient tradition of choosing a bride in the fall, when the harvest is ripe.
- The word “cabbage” in Latin is consonant with the word “head”. And the ancient myth says that the goddess of wisdom Athena was born from the head of Zeus.
The emergence of such myths is in itself not surprising. If you explain to your little child where he really came from, he will not only not understand anything, but he will also ask a bunch of questions. It is more convenient to tell a fairy tale about a vegetable or a stork, the effect of which was tested by distant ancestors.
True, psychologists advise to give up the stork too. One day the child will nevertheless find out the true reason for his birth. If he hears it not from your lips, he may think that his parents were deceiving him.
– To answer the baby that he was found in cabbage or brought by a stork, in my opinion, is wrong. Usually the question “Where did I come from?” appears at 3-4 years old. Remember the rule: there must be a direct answer to a direct question, so in this case we say – “Your mother gave birth to you.” And without further details, you don’t need to talk about sex at age three. The next question is “How did I get in the stomach?” usually occurs by the age of 5-6, and at this age there should be no talk of any cabbage or stork – this is a deception. Then the parents are very surprised why their children are not telling the truth. Why shouldn’t they start doing this when the adults themselves lie at every step?