Sometimes I'll be lying in bed and I can hear my 4-year-old and 7-year-old having a conversation in another room. It's an odd feeling when you've made some humans and then the humans start to communicate on their own.

My typical reaction is: "Listen to them having their own thoughts. How DARE they?!"

Walking down the hall the other day, I overheard the following conversation -- and it froze me in my tracks...

4: What does it mean to die?

7: ...

4: HEY, what does it mean to die?! Does it mean you fall down?

I was tempted to go in but I wanted to hear what his big brother would say.

7: It means you stop living.

4: (A STUNNED BEAT) I DON'T WANT THAT!

7: It's not going to happen until you're like a hundred.

4: When is that??

7: You're only four. It won't happen for a long time.

4: (TAKING THIS IN, THEN) Okay.

I can't tell you how proud I was of my 7-year-old.

Hearing them be there for each other like that, I'm confident they'll both lead long, happy, productive lives.

That is, until the robots attack.