Jack: What’s that noise!?
me: The cicadas are back. It’s a bug that comes out every 17 years.
Jack: Comes out of what?
me: The ground. Right now those cicadas you hear are trying to find a mate to have more babies that will come out of the ground 17 years from now.
Jack: What??
me: The babies live underground eating tree roots for 17 years. Then they hatch in the millions, shed their skins and then they try to find a mate too.
Jack: That’s all they do?
me: Pretty much. They live just long enough to mate and have babies, then they die.
Jack: That’s a heck of a life cycle!
me: People are the same, except we live longer and do more stuff in between. Like summer camp ha ha. But basically we want to have babies and see those babies grow up to have their own babies.
Jack: Ugh! What’s the point?
me: To keep your own species alive. That’s it.
Jack: Humans live longer so they can screw up all the other life cycles while they’re waiting to figure out their own.
me: ???
Sh*t My 6-Year-Old Says (but he's 18 now) 