Questions Kids Ask?

[Arella]

Hey guys I thought it could be fun if people posted the question they get asked the most by kids and the weirdest questions they get asked by kids? :)

[New York Mermaid]

Lol I get these

Do you know Ariel?

Does your tail change color?

How did you get all the way here from the ocean?

How do you breathe in water?

Do how many mermaids do you know?

Have you met any pirates? *the boys ask me this*

What's your favorite thing about living in the water?

[Mermaid Dottie]

"Are you real?" is usually the first question I get asked. I answer by asking if I might be their imagination.
"How do you transform?" was the one I got asked this weekend a lot. I use "potions" or "spells".
"Where did you get your tail?"
and of course "Are you Ariel?"

[MerMar]

Last Easter flying home, Canary Islands, a 5 years boy asked me where I would stay during my Holidays. I told him I was going home. He was puzzled and confused for a good while. When at last he understood that people live in the Canaries. He asked me, where we go for Holidays?

[Mermaid Marissa]

I get asked
are you a real mermaid?

how do you keep from getting wet?

do you take showers?

what do you eat?

do you live in the lake or the ocean? (I live in Chicago)

[Ayla of Duluth]

How did you get here if you can't walk? (mertender takes me where I need to go)

Do you grow legs if you go on land? (no, I'm a mermaid, not a shapeshifter)

Where/how do you sleep? (I either go up on the side of the pool and sleep on one of those lounge chairs, or I sleep on a pool floaty mattress thing)

What do you eat? (I eat whatever my mertender brings me, I love human food. When my human isn't around, I'll eat fish)

Are there other mermaids in the lake? (well besides me and my mom, I have yet to meet any, but I'm sure there are. The lake is a very big place.)

Where are your parents? (Mom went down to florida to get away from the harsh winter, and my dad is sailing along the coast somewhere until it warms up again)

How did you get the colors on your tail that you got? (when a mermaid is born, they're already mentally programmed with what their personality will be like when they grow up. a mermaid with a pink tail will be friendly and girly, green will be generous and loving, red will be flirty and talented, blue will be playful and tomboyish, purple will be laid back and relaxed, orange will be feisty and competitive, yellow will be happy and curious, white will be wise and sophisticated, and black will be mysterious and quiet. mermaids with multiple colors will have all the personalities of all their colors. For example, I'm mostly wise and sophisticated, which also makes me sort of mysterious and quiet. Being sophisticated makes you that way, it makes you very polite. My pink makes me friendly and girly. I love doing my hair and nails and I love talking to people about myself, and my purple is why I'm so lazy. I love to take naps.)

And of course, the usual "You have legs!!! I can feel them!" (no, those are my bones. (proceeds to pull out a perfectly drawn diagram of a mermaid with two femurs, two shin bones, and a tail bone where the shin bones meet at the bottom.) See? we have bones just like you, but they're joined at the bottom down there. This is how I move my tail. Imagine trying to move your legs without bones. It would be really hard!)

Edit: Formatting.

[New York Mermaid]

Lol my new tail is a turquoise and some black and a teeny hint of gold. So I'm playful, mysterious and quiet. But I'm also a bit curious too. Okay Ayla you hit my mersona right on the fin.

[Arella]

Thats a great idea to have a diagram of a "mermaid"s anatomy

[Arella]

If you guys don't mind I think I'm going to compile these on a word document and post it later so people can see common questions and think of answers to them before they're asked :)

[New York Mermaid]

Nope not at all :D

[AniaR]

I'm going to be annoying and say there's a huge chapter on working with kids in my book XD hehe and I'm going to be running an online workshop for it too! If you feel like you need more ideas <3

[Arella]

I just think it might be nice to have a printable list for people to see :) I can't wait for ur book!

[Ariel-Starfish]

So intresting to read all this :D

[Mermaid Kenzie]

@Ayla Would you happen to have a picture of that diagram? It's okay if you don't want to, but I've been searching EVERYWHERE for a good one with a semi-human tail bone structure, and all of them are entirely fish looking :/

[Mermaid Kalliope]

^Kenzie... That signature... x.x Can't unsee....

Ayla... Dayum. I have Red, Orange, Blue, Yellow, and black in my tail. Other than the quiet part, no wait... sometimes I am. Haha scary accurate! <3


I get the "Can I touch it?" a lot.

[Ariadne]

This is great! Thank ya'll so much for sharing!

[Echidna]

So...which colours do the water faeries have on their tails who
drown all people they can lay a hand on, devour them and spit the bones out afterward? :p

[tommyosmena]

nice feed back here thanks guys :)

[Merrow Erie]

Seriously though what do mermaids eat

Like this is bothering me

[Mermaid Varshana]

Sushi and seaweed, I'd imagine. Unless they discover a home remedy, though, that means their insides would be craaawwwwwling with all sorts of nasty things!

[Echidna]

Sushi and seaweed, I'd imagine. Unless they discover a home remedy, though, that means their insides would be craaawwwwwling with all sorts of nasty things!

Sushi and seaweed are staples of Japanese diet.
...
Having SOME creepy crawlies apparently is good for your health!
(They discovered that infecting kids having lots of allergies with intestinal worms cured the allergies.)
Humans are designed to have parasites. We get sick without them lol.

[Mermaid Calypso]

Typically the first question I get is "Are you real?" And its many variants.
"I can feel your legs!" Mermaids and humans have similar bones, but different skin.
"Where did you get your tail?" I was born with it, silly!
"What do you eat?" I typically say 'sea plants' because what kid wants to picture Ariel eating Flounder?
"Why are you wearing makeup/where did you get your jewelry?" Mermaids like make up too, and I made it/a human friend gave it to me!
"Can you breathe underwater?" Yes, but the chemicals they put in pools make it hard so I have to get air every now and then.
"You aren't a real mermaid, you don't look like one!" Have you ever met another mermaid before? How do you know what they look like?
And, a personal favorite, one little girl asked the above question and answered yes when I'd asked if she'd seen a real mer before. Turns out she'd seen Mermaid Melissa perform in real life in an amazing silicone tail, while I was swimming about the YMCA in a homemade fabric one. I was busted! :lol:

[Mizuko]

Besides the really obivous questions, I often get:
"Are you a princess?" Which when I say 'no' they get upset :P I think I should just say yes next time. LOL!
I've also had one little girl come up to me and whisper "Can I eat your hair?" hahaha!!

[Echidna]

I've also had one little girl come up to me and whisper "Can I eat your hair?" hahaha!!

:O_o: now that's just weird.

[Mermaid Isabela]

I got a lot of "Have you met the mermaid queen?" Hahaha. To which I replied, "Not yet! But I hope to someday!"

[Elle]

I had 2 little girls come up to me while I was swimming in my merfin (I don't have a tail yet) and they asked where the rest of my tail was. I just told them I was a mermaid in training.....I don't get my tail yet. They thought that was fabulous and loved the fact that they could see my toes!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I get asked how I breathe underwater quite frequently. When I tell them I can't, they complain that I'm not a real mermaid. My answer is that I'm only half fish, and since I don't have gills, I have to breathe air just like them. They seem happy to believe after that. :P

[Mermaid Calypso]

Found this gem on tumblr. Not sure if many kids would get it if you used this answer, but here it is.
How do mermaids have babies?
Sea-sections.

[Mermaid Varshana]

Sushi and seaweed are staples of Japanese diet.
...
Having SOME creepy crawlies apparently is good for your health!
(They discovered that infecting kids having lots of allergies with intestinal worms cured the allergies.)
Humans are designed to have parasites. We get sick without them lol.
I heard that. Real sushi is parasite free due to strict preparation standards. Marine mammals tend to have extremely high parasite loads because of what they pick up from fish. Small fish tend to be the intermediate hosts for a huge slew of parasites. They have worms in their guts, stomach, sinuses, blubber, uteri, kidneys, urethra, and sometimes in their inner ears and brains (which is lethal). Myself, I wouldn't mind having whipworm to kill my IBS.

[New York Mermaid]

I got a unique one from a client's dad, I was sitting in tail with half my fluke in the saltwater pool and I was drinking a bottle of water.. he asked me " Why does a mermaid drink freshwater, don't they drink saltwater? I explained "like most marine mammals such as whales and dolphins, we tend to get our freshwater through our fish meals, but since there's no fishes to snack on in the pool, I need a bottle of water to keep hydrated. By far to this date one of the most unique questions I've been asked... By an adult

[WavyMermaidy]

Having a bit of a tough time figuring out how to approach some of these questions. Man, kids are skeptical these days!! I was just recreationally mermaiding at a freshwater spring yesterday, and I had one little girl (maybe 10-ish) ask where I got my tail, and when I said I was born with it she said, in a very "what-ever!" tone: "Ugh. You can tell me...I'm not 6." On one hand I like the idea of trying to be very in character, while on the other hand I like the idea of spreading the joy of mermaiding as something everyone can do and talk about our community (mernetwork, etc.) and that anyone who has a true connection to the ocean/water/etc. can be a mermaid. I also like that as part of the message of conservation and trying to enhance human connection to the ocean.

I think it's possible to do both...stay in character AND tell them how they can be a mermaid themselves (keep swimming, make their own tail, help the environment, etc.) but you can just tell that some kids won't be convinced that you aren't real and just really want to know about the tail as a costume and you kinda want to talk to them about it. It's hard in mixed company when you have smaller kids. The "what-ever" girl was really good about not spoiling it for her younger siblings...she kept telling them I was a real mermaid. And then there are those kids that definitely ruin it for others if you are trying to stay in character.

I've tried going the route of "well, I know I'm a real mermaid but you can believe whatever you'd like" (not in a snotty way, just kindof whimsically) if some kid insists I'm not real as it seems to leave them wondering. But depending on the audience it doesn't always seem to work.

I have loved the experiences I've had with kids so far, and I am thinking about doing parties and things along those lines down the road...right now I mostly have encounters during recreational mermaiding and at work. However, I get a little stressed out with balancing this whole thing about being real or not and what to say. A lot of the kids I work with (during camps, mostly) see me with legs most of the time so that's a whole other ballgame convincing them you are a mermaid when in human form vs. when you are a stranger in a mermaid tail. And it's funny too b/c some of the kids at camps have known me for a while and just kindof accept that I'm a mermaid in whatever way that is...probably just the quirky-grown-up-hobby way, but it keeps them intrigued anyway.

Anyhow, first-world mermaid problems. Just venting about it :P

[Mermaid Dottie]

Besides the really obivous questions, I often get:
"Are you a princess?" Which when I say 'no' they get upset :P I think I should just say yes next time. LOL!

Well, I do say I'm a princess, but that's because I was actually given the title. I had told them no up to the point until I was introduced at a girl's birthday party to the little kids as River Princess Dottie.
Lately kids have been asking why my name is Dottie. I usually tell them it's because I have dots on my tail, but I came up with a WAY better answer last night while hubby and I were filling out my first D&D character sheet.
My Full Mer-name is now going to be "Rocky Mountain River Princess Peridot Amethyst Brooks.
But You can call me Dottie, for short."

[Mermaid Kelda]

It really depends on the way they ask the questions. For the older kids (10-12+) when they ask where you got the tail, it's not losing the magic to tell them. They know you're not real, but they're interested in your tail and the idea of mermaiding, so it's spreading good things to give them more info. If a younger kid, however (or even an older one, if they're playful enough) asks if you're real, seriously or not, that's where you stay in character. Kids are direct in the questions they ask, so in that way it makes it easier to answer them.

And I can imagine most older kids would be happy to go along with the story anyway, especially if there's younger kids there.

[Mermaid Azira]

*Bump*

This has been really bugging me and I just don't know how to answer. Iv'e been asked four times now, how do mermaids go potty. What can I say. I get little kids think its funny, but it gets sorta awkward.

[MerEmma]

"Magic!"

;\

[Kishiko]

*Bump*

This has been really bugging me and I just don't know how to answer. Iv'e been asked four times now, how do mermaids go potty. What can I say. I get little kids think its funny, but it gets sorta awkward.

i keep wondering the same thing! How would you answer them?

[Mermaid Ellowyn]

I suppose I would say something like mermaids don't need to go to the bathroom because our bodies use up all the food (all the nutrients and everything). Nothing would need to go to waste then :) Might have to alter the wording slightly for different age groups of kids, and then I would also segway into another topic with something like, "My favorite nutritious food is kelp! What's your favorite food?" to avoid any further bathroom questions!

[Kishiko]

That's a good idea, Harley!(:

[Mermaid Azira]

Ah thats a good idea. Once a really bold boy asked me which part a mermaid has. :doh: I do not like answering those questions.

[Anahita]

Azira, if it makes you feel better, ADULTS ask me that question..... In front of kids.... Like, wth?

If a kid asks, I just say "the same way dolphins go" and if they try and keep up on it, I tell them to visit the local aquarium and ask one of the workers there to explain because I don't know how to explain because English is not my first language, mer-mish is. ;)

Bonus points, because it usually gets kids to go to the aquarium.

[Mermaid Adriel]

Azira, if it makes you feel better, ADULTS ask me that question..... In front of kids.... Like, wth?

*facepalm*

[Merman Dan]

Iv'e been asked four times now, how do mermaids go potty.

Do NOT look up "Whale fecal plume" on Google unless you want to know FAR too much about the subject. ;)

Never mind where sand comes from:

http://www.youtube.com/gATMD5RTYmk

And a personal favorite... Bubbles:

http://www.youtube.com/OcwCYIfm6eA

[PearlieMae]

:lol ^:

[Kishiko]

Do NOT look up "Whale fecal plume" on Google unless you want to know FAR too much about the subject. ;)

Never mind where sand comes from:

http://www.youtube.com/gATMD5RTYmk

And a personal favorite... Bubbles:

http://www.youtube.com/OcwCYIfm6eA


Oy. That's some large whale excretion o.O

[halesloveswhales]

*Bump*

This has been really bugging me and I just don't know how to answer. Iv'e been asked four times now, how do mermaids go potty. What can I say. I get little kids think its funny, but it gets sorta awkward.

I just gasp playfully and say, "I can't tell you THAT!" as if they asked me a very private question. After that, they usually drop it. :)
Same answer when adults ask me the typical adult question. "How do mermaids...ya know...?"

[Trade Winds]

Has anyone told kids that it's only a costume? I don't mind at all letting kids believe in merfolk, but I feel like their parents would get angry or something if I told them I'm real. I'm a furry and do a lot of fursuiting, so I know all about 'ruining the magic' for kids, but in the case of mermaiding personally I feel like I can be like 'it's just a costume' or something.

Altho 'pretending' I'm a real mermaid is much more fun.

(I mean all that in the manner of I'm randomly swimming and kids ask stuff- not in a 'pro' way.)

[Theobromine]

I've found that kids are far less credulous than people seem to think. It's only been the very tiny humans who think I'm actually part fish. I do tell kids I'm a mermaid (cuz I am), but when they ask where I got the tail, I usually just tell them. I also tell them about the kid-sized mermaid monofins they can get and that they should ask their parents for them for their birthday :P

I did once have a little boy (who couldn't have been more than four) yell at me "YOU'RE NOT REAL, YOU'RE FAKE! THAT'S MADE OF RUBBER!" His dad seemed REALLY embarrassed but I just laughed and said "kids these days".

Kids are weird.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

"Did you see the girl with the really big fin?"

This question still rings in my ears whenever I think of the first time I brought my monofin to the club pool. I think I may have a teeny tiny stalker!:lol:

[AptaMer]

"How do Mermaids go potty?"

"Oh, we don't use a potty- we just go straight into the water- You're swimming in it right now with me" - 19406

[Mermaid Jaffa]

"How do Mermaids go potty?"

"Oh, we don't use a potty- we just go straight into the water- You're swimming in it right now with me" - 19406

Well that's what the ocean is! One gigantic toilet!

Whales go in it. Sharks go in it. Fish go in it.

And guess what the humans do, SWIM in it!

[Mary Marine]

When kids asks questions I tell a mix of the truth and fantasy. I shed my tail like a snake skin when I dry out, so when I'm in water I'm a mermaid, but on land I'm human. I'm an aquatic mammal because I'm warm blooded and breathe air like whales, but I'm not a cetacean, I'm my own weird category kind of like a platypus.

[maggie.merpuff]

Shedding the tail is a BRILLIANT solution!!


¸.·´¯`·.´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º>

[Mermaid Margo]

I recently wrote a post on Tumblr about Pro Mermaids & Skeptical Kids (http://mermaidmargo.tumblr.com/post/125094019535/pro-mermaids-skeptical-kids) if anyone is interested in taking a look. :)

[The Harlem Mermaid]

Love your stories, I've been asked "do you live in the ocean? Do you eat Fish!? how do you get here? and of course are you a real mermaid? lol just a few but so precious my favorite from one boy, do you know the big old guy with that big sword posidon? lol so much fun with them , would make for a entertaining and fun book to read

[SeaMansa]

My sister asked awhile ago (while watching Splash) "How do mermaids sleep because they can't lie down in water without floating away...." I told her perhaps they sleep in underwater caves where the current can't get them. Its something, right? Not as clever an answer as it could be but its something.

[Meronica]

My sister asked awhile ago (while watching Splash) "How do mermaids sleep because they can't lie down in water without floating away...." I told her perhaps they sleep in underwater caves where the current can't get them. Its something, right? Not as clever an answer as it could be but its something.

We lay in a sheltered cove and hold hands like sea otters so we don't float away! <3


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fun123joker]

my favorites:

"are you/ do you know a mermaid princess
actually we kinda run on a democratic/republic system because the ocean is too big for one person to decide what to do

Adult: "are you a mermaid?"
*sarcastic* naaaaaaah im bigfoot

"what happens if their are sharks?"
eh, sharks are pretty chill. if you dont mess with them they dont mess with you

and i always say this one on any kids ask thread, wont be suprised if you're tired of me telling it but my most out there one was. "where do mer-babies come from?"

[J.Nigma]

How did you get here if you can't walk? (mertender takes me where I need to go)

Do you grow legs if you go on land? (no, I'm a mermaid, not a shapeshifter)

Where/how do you sleep? (I either go up on the side of the pool and sleep on one of those lounge chairs, or I sleep on a pool floaty mattress thing)

What do you eat? (I eat whatever my mertender brings me, I love human food. When my human isn't around, I'll eat fish)

Are there other mermaids in the lake? (well besides me and my mom, I have yet to meet any, but I'm sure there are. The lake is a very big place.)

Where are your parents? (Mom went down to florida to get away from the harsh winter, and my dad is sailing along the coast somewhere until it warms up again)

How did you get the colors on your tail that you got? (when a mermaid is born, they're already mentally programmed with what their personality will be like when they grow up. a mermaid with a pink tail will be friendly and girly, green will be generous and loving, red will be flirty and talented, blue will be playful and tomboyish, purple will be laid back and relaxed, orange will be feisty and competitive, yellow will be happy and curious, white will be wise and sophisticated, and black will be mysterious and quiet. mermaids with multiple colors will have all the personalities of all their colors. For example, I'm mostly wise and sophisticated, which also makes me sort of mysterious and quiet. Being sophisticated makes you that way, it makes you very polite. My pink makes me friendly and girly. I love doing my hair and nails and I love talking to people about myself, and my purple is why I'm so lazy. I love to take naps.)

And of course, the usual "You have legs!!! I can feel them!" (no, those are my bones. (proceeds to pull out a perfectly drawn diagram of a mermaid with two femurs, two shin bones, and a tail bone where the shin bones meet at the bottom.) See? we have bones just like you, but they're joined at the bottom down there. This is how I move my tail. Imagine trying to move your legs without bones. It would be really hard!)

Edit: Formatting.
Omg yes. I am totally stealing that bones bit xD

[J.Nigma]

Typically the first question I get is "Are you real?" And its many variants.
"I can feel your legs!" Mermaids and humans have similar bones, but different skin.
"Where did you get your tail?" I was born with it, silly!
"What do you eat?" I typically say 'sea plants' because what kid wants to picture Ariel eating Flounder?
"Why are you wearing makeup/where did you get your jewelry?" Mermaids like make up too, and I made it/a human friend gave it to me!
"Can you breathe underwater?" Yes, but the chemicals they put in pools make it hard so I have to get air every now and then.
"You aren't a real mermaid, you don't look like one!" Have you ever met another mermaid before? How do you know what they look like?
And, a personal favorite, one little girl asked the above question and answered yes when I'd asked if she'd seen a real mer before. Turns out she'd seen Mermaid Melissa perform in real life in an amazing silicone tail, while I was swimming about the YMCA in a homemade fabric one. I was busted! [emoji38]
Hahaha that's priceless!!!
Seriously the one thing I am super excited about is talking to kids as a mermaid. I convinced my niece forever ago that I had snow white's powers (I modeled with wolves before and she asked how I got the wolf to look pretty, so I said I asked nicely in wolf speak hahaha).

I just love the whimsy in kids and can't wait to see their reactions 💖

[Nyx]

I just recently did a party with my neoprene tail, and one little boy kept asking "why are you so squishy?"
His ENTIRE reasoning that I wasn't real came from the fact that my tail was "too squishy".

[Aurelian]

When kids asks questions I tell a mix of the truth and fantasy. I shed my tail like a snake skin when I dry out, so when I'm in water I'm a mermaid, but on land I'm human. I'm an aquatic mammal because I'm warm blooded and breathe air like whales, but I'm not a cetacean, I'm my own weird category kind of like a platypus.
So, like a selkie? Cool!:)

[Sea~Phoenix Savannah]

Just want to say thanks for making this thread, it'll definitely help when I start swimming in my tail!

[Mermaid Lilija]

This was so much fun to read!! :eek:

Here are some questions I had & my answer :p

I saw you walking with legs earlier, how is that possible?
I can transform from human to mermaid and from mermaid to human. Most of the time I tell them nobody can look at the transformation otherwise the spell wouldn't work.

Can I have a race?
Most of the time I say yes of course. I only make up an excuse when I already swam for a few hours and when I am just tired.

Why can't you hold your breath underwater forever? (I can stay underwater pretty long but they ask why I can't stay there)
I answer with that I am part human so I have lungs. I still need to breath like a normal human. I can't stay forever underwater.

Do you have a pirate boyfriend?
Since my mersona is from the north I say that I fell in love with a nordic man. Most kids find it very interesting, it is different from the basic pirate & mermaid stories. So they quite enjoy the stories I tell about the adventures I made with people from the north.

Why does your haircolor change? (I dye my hair very often in different colors like now it is bright green)
I say I enjoy color and that I can make my hair change with a spell. It doesn't depend on my mood or something just the color I like at that moment. A girl asked me a week ago about my green hair and I said, that I discovered magic seaweed and it's magic fused into me leaving my hair green.

This is an awkward question from an 8 year old.
Why do you have a top on? Mermaids are naked right?
I just answered with that we are just like humans. We don't want everybody to see our private parts.

Some kids are so weird asking about where my parents are and how I was born :lol: Once a child asked my fiancee how it was in bed with a mermaid?!?! How did a nine year old came up with this :jawdrop:

[Rebela Hunter]

I'm a bit late to the party, but this is a hilarious and eye-opening thread! :P

[Sea~Phoenix Savannah]

I've now been for a few swims, during one this precious little 3 going on 4 year old girl asked me how old I was, and when I replied that I was 210 years old she looked very surprised and said "wow! You're really big" I just laughed and said "yes I am." She was so cute though!

[DDsweetie]

I took my tail out in public the first time today and this thread helped a lot!

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