Its no big news that my kids are pretty random, they have pretty random thoughts and questions, and I often have no idea what they are talking about.... sometimes I tell them that and sometimes I just nod and smile. Last night the kids were seeming especially clingy and since we are going through a bit of a tough time and they are missing their dad as he is in Phoenix working on law school I told them they could both sleep in my bed with me. A small concession since the sleeping arrangement is normally Zander and I in one air mattress and Aidan in another in the same room, but my kids are big on snuggling so this was very exciting to them. I also usually put them to bed earlier them myself so last night I went to bed with them to get the full snuggle effect. As we lay in bed with arms and legs intertwined rubbing each others hair with love Aidan asked what would happen if a planet in the solar system fell out of orbit. I told him I wasn't sure, but I thought it would be pretty catastrophic..... maybe the other planets would crash into each other and explode, or just fall out of the sky, but I really didn't know. I told him I looked it up and wondered what made him think of that. He said he thinks our family is like his very own solar system, and if one of us is gone it will be catastrophic, kind of like a planet falling out of orbit. I took a few minutes to soak this in and asked who exactly was included in this solar system of his. He said "well of course you, and dad, and me, and Zander, and Lyndsay, Dylan, and Aiden Tanner. Mom, that is my true family and I need them all for my life to be right"
Can you tell these are kids that I deeply adore?
I didn't know how deeply this situation has been affecting him, but now I know how scared he is, he is scared of loosing what he has, what he knows and has known since he was 2 as his family. On my end his family has not changed since the age of 2. Lynz Dylan and AT go back and forth from their mom's house but they are always his brothers and sister. They always will be. Adam may be his stepdad, but he has always been dad to Aidan, they have an amazingly strong father son bond. That is not to say Aidan does not love his biological dad, it is just a different relationship than the one with Adam. Not something I will discuss publicly anymore.
So, today I looked up the answer to Aidan's question, here is what wikipedia has to say:
It would not collide with planet earth. It would travel in a straight line away from the earth perpendicular to the line between the earth and the moon
I think I like the collide metaphor better when thinking of our family, I like this one, we do need each other to orbit correctly, and we will make it work! Plus I love the song!