Medical School for 4 year olds

“Dad, what’s a scull?”

“A what?” I asked, slightly perplexed. Only four and he was already into asking me questions that were probably leading somewhere I didn’t want to explain.

At least this time he didn’t ask me why his younger sister didn’t have a ‘dangly bit between her legs’.

“A skull. Yeah. What's a skull?"

I thought for a moment, trying to decide how to describe anatomy to a four year old. “It’s a bone, but in your head. Like your arm bone, your skull is like your head bone.” To demonstrate I made a hollow tapping noise as I gave my head a few taps, which gave way to a few giggles.

He thought for a moment, then cocked his head and squished his eyes together. “Like an eye bone?”

“Eyes don’t have bones. They are just flesh, made out of an anterior segment with the cornea and iris, and a posterior segment where the retina and optic nerve lie.”

After another rather long pause he asked “Ant mints? You mean beads, right?”

“What?”

“Aren’t eyes made of beads?” he inquired.

I turned to look, seeing if he was serious. “Where did you ever get that idea?”

“Well,” he stated, “someone told me I had beady eyes.”

Next thing I know he’ll be yelling “Oh no, not the gumdrop buttons!” when I try to wash his belly button out.