Later, I tried to get a computer to play a simple melody and assumed that 1=A, 2=B, etc. The result sounded wrong, and eventually by trial and error I figured out that if I put C# in place of C, then everything sounded good.
I asked my father why, and he gave me a version of "you'll understand when you're older". My father was a wonderful man, but this is still one of my sadder memories from childhood.
(And which, incidentally, is surely a reason why many parents are finding working from home during quarantine to be so difficult.)
Edit: Point being--scientific accuracy not required. :)
And they'll only stop asking for a very short while (if they're like all the kids I've talked with). Children are people and value honesty and attention like everyone else. If you try, they'll be back.
Plus, I enjoy it even when they don't understand and leave halfway through the answer. They make the best faces to show they're done.
I know _I_ can't, but children seem to be quite good at it.
"I decided to just answer straightforwardly"
That can make all the difference in your interactions with your child and how they learn about this world.
Too many problems are caused by parents not being honest with their kids. Be straightforward, no matter how awkward the explanations may be. Avoid patronizing simplifications and saying things like "you'll understand when you're older". If they're not able to understand or decide they don't want to, they'll stop asking.
and also one of the best ways of improving your own understanding of something is to try explaining it to someone else, and who better than a child? If they say some tradition is stupid or silly, maybe it is! If you can't defend it to them, why do you follow it?
Who knows, maybe you'll even make an unexpected friend to share your interests with. :)