I have always tried to be open and honest with

my children whenever they came to me with questions,

but six-year-old Peter caught me off guard one evening ,

when he bounced in at dinner time and asked,

"Mom, when you get married,

does that make you pregnant?"

"No," I answered,

"Getting married is not what makes you pregnant."

"Well," he persisted, "how do you get pregnant then?"

Not wishing to get into such a serious discourse just before dinner,

I answered, "Peter, it's a sort of a long story."

Within an impish look on his little face,

he cocked his head and replied,

"You don't know, do you?"

每当孩子们问我问题时，我总是试图坦诚相告。

可是，有天晚上，我那六岁的儿子彼得把我难住了。

他在晚饭时冲回家来，突然问道：“妈，结婚会使人怀孕吗？”

“不，”我说：“结婚不一定会使人怀孕。”

“那么，”他追问道：“你是怎么怀孕的？”

我不想在吃饭前讨论如此严肃的话题，

于是答道：“彼得，这事儿一时半会也说不清楚。”

彼得的小脸上一副调皮模样，

他歪着头说：“你也不知道，是吗？”