CHILDREN teach you to question the world.
At breakfast on Tuesday morning my son asked an easy one: 'Did you see the rain on Sunday?'
Before I got a chance to reply about the thunder and lightning over Croke Park, his six-year-old sister posed this clinker:
'How do dogs marry?'
Once I'd stopped laughing, we got to the issue: her traditional viewpoint that only married people, or dogs, can have children/ puppies.
I know that she would have been delighted to see video footage of doggy weddings; contrary to the claims of right-wing culture warriors, children are open-minded and inclusive, prepared to embrace differences.
We've explained before that not all mummies and daddies are married, but sometimes learning requires repetition.
That early morning exchange also made me think about attitudes in society.
The night before, the Irish Football Association, at its Annual General Meeting, had voted strongly against a proposal to make Sunday games obligatory if the Northern Ireland Football League set them on the fixture list.
As it stands, both clubs have to agree to a Sunday fixture; if one disagrees, the game has to take place on another day.
The instinctive reaction of some on social media was to call 'bigotry', to complain about 'Bible-bashers'. Ironically, bigoted comments in themselves.
Sure, we all know that there are cynical people who use religion as a weapon, sometimes literally. There are those who exploit minor religious differences for their own ends of politics and/or power.
Yet there are also true believers, genuinely religious people.
I'm not someone for whom Sunday is sacred, obviously. I work most Sundays.
However, I respect the rights of those who do treasure 'the Sabbath', 'The Lord's Day', whatever they want to term it.
Would it be right for a long-standing supporter of a particular Irish League club, someone who perhaps hasn't missed one of their games for years, even decades, to feel they couldn't watch their team because the match was fixed for a Sunday?
Similarly, should a team be deprived of a star player, or even a manager, because his deeply-held Christian beliefs prevent him from treating Sunday as anything other than a day of rest, a day of worship and reflection?
Obviously times change and it's appropriate to suggest having more Sunday games, especially as those that have taken place have attracted increased attendances.
Tommy Whiteside of Crusaders alleged at the IFA AGM that there had been no consultation with clubs, although the proposer on behalf of NIFL, Coleraine chairman Colin McKendry, suggested otherwise.
Whiteside stated that the Crues are not against Sunday football in itself, but were opposed to the mandatory element of that proposal; personally I would not be comfortable with such an approach either.
Linfield chairman Roy McGivern stated that his club was against changing the rule, declaring the current system "fit for purpose."
Having said that, the Blues took the pragmatic decision to play in this year's BetMcLean Cup Final which, for the second season in a row, took place on a Sunday.
So did this year's Irish Cup Final, between Crusaders and Ballymena United, two clubs who have strong associations with traditional Christian stances, at least embodied by the men in charge of their teams that day, Stephen Baxter and David Jeffrey.
Supporters are a hugely important element, so proper surveys should be done to ascertain their feelings. 'Fastest finger first' on Facebook and Twitter is not the answer.
The interests of club members, season ticket-holders, players, administrators, coaching staff, and members all must to be taken into account.
A tiny minority should not stand in the way of what is deemed the greater good. But until it can be definitively proved that it IS only a tiny minority, as claimed by some critics, then the status quo is appropriate.
Compromise, agreement, common sense are all aspects of arranging Irish League games on Sundays at present.
As such, the Irish League clubs can set a good example to the rest of society, politicians included.
Oh, and I don't mind what day of the week dogs get married – or if they don't.
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Rather than run the risk of being accused of hypocrisy, or double standards, let me state for the record that Conor Meyler of Tyrone should have been sent off for striking against Donegal last week.
The Omagh man got lucky on that occasion – although he was also the recipient of plenty of abuse, including three consecutive neck-high fouls in the opening moments of the second half.
Of course, he wasn't the only one to get away with breaching the rules, far from it.
Referees would need four pairs of eyes to see all the shenanigans that go on during matches. In the real world, the main match official could at least benefit from much more proactive assistance from linesmen and umpires.
The games, especially in football, are probably coming too thick and fast for the GAA to look at all the controversial incidents which occur.
The Association, probably correctly, does not have the desire, the time, or enough people to re-referee every game.
Yet surely the, ahem, unusual incidents can be considered by the disciplinary authorities?
Clashes on the ball happen, tackles can be mis-timed, challenges mis-directed. It's difficult to ascribe motivation, ill-intent, on such occasions. If the match officials miss them, so be it.
However, when players commit karate chops, stamps, punches, or kicks, all of which we've witnessed in this month alone, then those shouldn't just be brushed under the carpet.
