Whatever happened to giving kids straight answers?

March 17th, other than being a pseudo-holiday, is my grandmother's
birthday. Well, one of them anyway.

But the thing is, as a kid, I had to figure this out on my own after
asking my mom when this day was. I still remember asking her one day
when my grandmother's birthday was one March years ago.

Instead of the direct answer I was hoping to get, I got told "In the
middle of the month." What the hell kind of answer is that?

It just so happened that I took that literally, and thankfully March
17th was the precise day "in the middle of the month" on the calendar.
For some reason, that stuck with me, a useless bit of info on someone's
birthday. I barely remember the birthdays of people I know and of those
still alive, but yet I remember March 17th.

I still feel annoyed by the fact that my mother at the moment I asked my
question couldn't spend an extra couple of seconds to give me a direct
answer. "In the middle of the month" is not an answer, it's somethng off
the top of your head to get rid of someone. It's a dismissive answer.

Since then, I've tried to do my best to give kids direct answers. They
want that. They deserve direct answers.