My 6 year-old son asked "Where did I come from?" (paraphrased).
Hmmm. I'm not ready for this. A difficult question.
In clinic, difficult questions are common. Most times, I have a ready made answer and this has evolved with experience and repetition.
With my son, the answer was lame. I muttered something about mum's tummy and eggs. I'm not sure he understood and I sure wasn't anatomically or physiologically correct. We'll leave that discussion for some other day. It hasn't yet occurred to him to use Dr Google and Mr Youtube.
Maybe, I should have just told him what I would usually say when faced with a question I can't answer in clinic or when I want more time to think about the answer.
I need to read more about it, and discuss it with my colleagues, and I'll get back to you soon.
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health. You should follow him on twitter here. Arthritis requires an integrated approach. We call this, Connected Care. Contact us.