By Pingting / May 17, 2026
晚上睡前，娃儿突然一本正经地问了我一句：
“妈妈，川普不在，我们就不要缴税了吗？”
我当场愣了两秒。
有点不敢相信自己听到的，又确认了一遍：
“你说的是什么税？”
娃儿解释：
“就是超过东西的那部分价钱！”
这下我才反应过来。
最近他们学校正在学“钱”的单元，老师顺便教了买东西为什么会比标签上的价格更贵，因为有税。
只是我没想到，他居然会把“总统在不在美国”跟“要不要缴税”自动连起来。
于是我又问：
“你说川普不在，是说他去中国那个事情吗？”
娃儿：
“是啊！”
我心里默默震惊了一下。
因为前几天，我真的只是随口提了一句，说川普和马斯克这些人去中国访问，顺便给他看了现场很多学生欢迎他们的视频。
没想到，人家居然全记住了。
我回答：
“他就去了两天，昨天已经回来了。”
娃儿立刻震惊：
“什么？回来了？！”
我说：
“是啊，大概就48小时吧！”
结果他一脸认真地感叹：
“原来只是48小时！”
我差点笑出来。
我继续说：
“对啊，人家身体可好了，都不用倒时差。但是……”
“就算总统不在美国，我们还是得缴税。”
“有总统跟没总统，其实都一样，都得缴税，因为这是法律规定。”
娃儿：
“噢……”
结果那个“噢”才刚讲完不到三秒，人已经直接昏睡过去了。
前一秒还在讨论国家制度与税务逻辑，
后一秒直接断电。
结果更好笑的还在后面。
睡前我故意跟他说：
“你看A和K现在都一人睡一个房间了！”
我本来是想暗示一下：
“你是不是也该慢慢学着自己睡了？”
结果人家想都没想，直接来一句：
“因为他们mean to each other，所以FBI把他们分开了！”
我当场笑到不行。
一本正经地胡说八道。
而且逻辑还异常完整。
本来我还想趁机教育一下“独立睡觉”这件事，结果被他这么一解释，突然又变成：
“我们关系很好，所以不用被FBI分开。”
听完甚至还有点温馨。
有时候，小孩讲话真的特别有意思。
他们的大脑，会把学校学到的知识、新闻片段、动画剧情、FBI、总统、税务、家庭关系，全揉成一个自己的宇宙。
而这个宇宙，又特别地合理。
婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.05.17
原创发布： tingtingma.com
写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。
未经授权，请勿转载。
《Ting Mom’s Daily Parenting Notes｜258. About Taxes and Independence》
Before bed one night, my son suddenly asked me very seriously:
“Mom, if Trump isn’t here, does that mean we don’t have to pay taxes anymore?”
I froze for two seconds.
I honestly thought I had heard him wrong, so I asked again:
“What kind of tax are you talking about?”
He explained:
“The extra money you pay after buying stuff!”
That’s when I finally realized what he meant.
Recently, they’ve been learning about “money” at school, and the teacher had also explained why things cost more than the price on the tag — because of taxes.
What I didn’t expect was that he had somehow automatically connected:
“whether the president is in America”
with
“whether people still have to pay taxes.”
So I asked:
“When you say Trump isn’t here, do you mean the trip to China?”
My son:
“Yeah!”
I was secretly shocked inside.
Because a few days earlier, I had casually mentioned that Trump and Elon Musk had visited China, and I even showed him some videos of students welcoming them there.
I honestly didn’t think he had paid much attention.
Turns out, he remembered everything.
So I told him:
“He was only there for two days. He already came back yesterday.”
My son immediately looked shocked:
“What?! He came back already?!”
I said:
“Yeah, probably only about 48 hours.”
And then he said very seriously:
“So it was only 48 hours!”
I almost burst out laughing.
Then I continued:
“Yeah. Those people are probably really healthy. They don’t even get jet lag. But…”
“Even if the president isn’t in America, we still have to pay taxes.”
“With or without a president, people still pay taxes, because it’s required by law.”
My son:
“Oh…”
And less than three seconds after saying “oh,” he completely passed out asleep.
One second he was discussing government systems and tax logic,
and the next second —
total shutdown.
But the funniest part came afterward.
Before bed, I teased him on purpose:
“Look, A and K both sleep in their own rooms now!”
I was trying to hint:
“Maybe you should slowly learn to sleep independently too?”
But without even thinking, he immediately replied:
“Because they’re mean to each other, so the FBI separated them!”
I laughed so hard.
Completely ridiculous.
Yet somehow… the logic was weirdly complete.
I had originally wanted to turn it into a little lesson about “sleeping independently,” but after his explanation, it somehow became:
“We have a good relationship, so the FBI doesn’t need to separate us.”
And honestly?
That interpretation felt strangely heartwarming.
Sometimes kids say the funniest things.
Their brains mix together:
things they learn at school,
news clips,
cartoons,
the FBI,
presidents,
taxes,
and family relationships —
all into one little universe of their own.
And somehow,
inside their universe,
everything makes perfect sense.
Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on May 17, 2026
Originally published at: tingtingma.com
Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.