She always asks a million questions, that sweet little daughter of mine. And she is the sweetest you know. I would say to people when she was very young: "You know how every parent thinks that their own child is the most beautiful in the world? Well you wouldn't believe my luck; mine actually is!"

The reality though; is that they also test you, although in doing so, they help you grow.

This morning at the beginning of the half-hour country drive to her school she starts the discussion of how humans breathe out carbon dioxide.

"Yes that right" I tell her and then she asks; "but how do they do that?"

"Well, we breathe in oxygen and the carbon dioxide comes out as waste. But it's kind of like a miracle" I say.

"But what about the trees. I know they do the opposite, and what about if you chopped down lots of trees and put them on the side of the road; would they still give humans good air to breathe if they were walking past?"

"Maybe for a little while" I respond. "But it doesn't quite work like that. You see there's lots of trees that are already alive, and fortunately there are plenty on the planet to keep the circulation happening, although we have to be careful not to chop too many down"

"Yeah, I know that dad; it's called global warming"

"That's got something to do with it sweetheart"

"Dad?"

"Yes"

"Do you know that atoms don't grow?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, they don't get bigger like me, they always stay the same size"

"That's right"

"So how do I get bigger if atoms don't grow?"

"It's because they multiply instead"

She looks at me inquisitively now. The nervousness that I always feel when she asks me these kinds of questions calming slightly as I sense that I might be getting it right.

"How do they multiply dad?"

"Hmmm... well you know when you were conceived? We've talked about that right; the seed and the egg story"

"Yeah"

"Well, you started off as cells which have molecules which have atoms, and the atoms multiply which makes you grow."

"But how do they do that dad?"

"Well sweetheart, I can't explain that really but you know how you said you wanted to be a scientist when you grow up"

"Yeah"

"I imagine you'll get closer to that answer then, although I can tell you one thing"

"What?"

"It's like another one of those miracles I was talking about before. It's like breathing; that's another miracle, and there are so many miracles that happen all the time. Gee; thanks sweetheart, you're really making me think about how precious life really is. Come on; give me a high-five."

"No dad, high-five yourself, you thought of it."

I smile.