“Mommy, Is There A Hell…In St. George?”

When our kids were younger, they would say really weird things that would stop us in our tracks.  

One night, many years ago we all sat down at the dinner table and our then-six year old asked us,

"Is there a HELL in St. George?"

We were very, very confused but I did my best to explain the concept of HELL to her.

"Well" I said, "uh...HELL is a place really bad people go when they die.  It's an awful place.  So no.  There is not a HELL in St. George Utah."

Our daughter thought about it in silence while my mind was reeling on what on earth just happened.  I needed to know.

"Where did you hear about HELL?" I asked.

"I heard about it in a song." Our daughter said.

"What song is that?" I asked.

"A song I heard on TV." Our toddler said matter of factly.

I tried to narrow it down further.  "Was this a kids show or a Mom and Dad show?"

"A kids show" she answered.

She then began drawing with her finger in the air up and down, up and down, making mountain shapes.

That's when we figured it out.

"Oh!" I said excitedly. "Do you mean HILLS?"

"Yeah!" our daughter shouted.

"Yes.  There is a HILL in St. George".

Moral of the story:  Before you wind up over-explaining things to your kids, it's smart to figure out what the HILL they're talking about :-)