My 6 year old nephew asked why I take the stairs at the mall and I did not have a good answer
So I was babysitting my nephew Owen on Saturday at the mall in Boise, and every time we passed the elevator he would point at it and ask why I kept saying no. I told him stairs are faster, which is a total lie and he knows it, because he just stared at me and said 'but your face is red.' He is 6. He has no filter and also zero patience for my nonsense. I have been telling myself for about 2 years that taking the stairs is this whole healthy habit thing, but standing there huffing on the second floor landing I could not actually name one time it helped me. So I sat down on the bench by the fake plant and we counted all the times I chose the stairs that day versus the elevator, and it was 4 to 0, and my knees were mad about all 4. Later that night I told my sister what he said and she laughed for a full minute and said he does the same thing to her about her phone. I think my small win is just admitting the stairs thing was never about my health, it was about avoiding that awkward pause when the doors open and you have to decide whether to walk in. Does anybody else have a habit they cannot actually explain when a kid asks about it?
Feels like you're reading way too much into a 6 year old calling you out for being out of shape. He's just repeating whatever he sees, not doing philosophy on your elevator anxiety. Take the stairs or don't, but the kid forgot about this five minutes later.