Children are aware of life altering changes

I totally believe in “Kids say the darndest things”. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing some hilarious quotes from the little ones in my life. I’ve never heard one as eye opening as the one I heard this weekend from my pre-adolescent nephew who is at an age of 11 years. I’ll try to capture the conversation as best as I can via typed words:

NEPHEW: Are you going to college so you can work at NASA?
(Background: My nephew just visited NASA last weekend and DH is majoring in Physics/Astronomy.)
DH: Yes, either at NASA or JPL (sp?).
NEPHEW: When will you graduate?
DH: Many, many years from now.
NEPHEW: Will I graduate college before you?
DH: I’ll graduate 3 times.
(Background: DH would like to get his PhD.)
NEPHEW: 3 times!? Well what if you have a kid before then? Are you still going to go to college?
DH: Yes, I’ll still go to school.
NEPHEW: Well, are you going to leave them at home with A or what?
DH: Yes, probably.
NEPHEW: Well, when is she gonna have time to work?

At this point, my eyes are wide open, I’m staring at my husband and laughing hysterically.

This question is my number one stressor right now. Remember my “How will we do it?” post? It’s pretty bad that my nephew at the age of 11 can see this as a problem, but it made me laugh at the same time. Here's a picture of my very smart nephew and I.