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| My 2 girls with my nephew Ryan. Cute huh? Until they start asking questions! |
Oh Yes. It’s begun. The incessant questions from my 4 year old have started…and with a flurry. First it was “why?” after I asked Lila to brush her teeth. Then “why do I have to eat my green beans?” And finally “Why don’t cookies have vitamins like green beans?”
“Why?” “WHY?!”
“I’m not sure what vitamins are in cookies — maybe we can look that up later, after you eat your green beans.” Sigh.
I understand that her inquisitiveness is basically a sign of her growth and understanding of the world around her. And I am thoroughly impressed and entertained by some of the questions. I love learning how her mind works, and what interests her. But I seriously am stumped on some of these, and sometimes get frustrated. So I’ve learned to do two things; limit the “Because I told you so!” response, and actually try to give her a good answer, and if I really can’t answer, I’ve realized it’s ok to say “I don’t know, let’s find out together.”
So here’s a little sampling of what I’ve been asked in the past 12 hours. Please, if you have good responses to these let me know…because even Siri couldn’t help me this morning.
Before bath last night…
Lila: Why do we use a different brushes for our teeth and hair?
Me: Because you can’t fit a hair brush in your mouth silly!
Lila: Why does poop smell?
Me: I’m sure it has to do with food in your tummy, umm let’s google that after you get dressed.
Lila: What’s google?
Me: A search engine on the internet that can find answers to most subjects
Lila: What’s the internet?
Me: Brush your teeth!
While in the bath…
Lila: How do we know God is real if we can’t see him? (Seriously, I’m getting this at 4? I really should have paid better attention in CCD.)
Me: You just have to believe, God is everywhere, even inside you.
Lila: How did he get inside me?
Me: How do you know God is a boy? (stumped her there!)
Lila: Is Santa Claus real? Because the first Santa I saw had a white beard, and the one at school had a grey beard.
Me: Put your head back, I need to wash your hair. (Do I tell her? No clue how to answer this…)
Lila: How do reindeer fly? They don’t have wings.
Me: Magic
Lila: Is magic real?
Me: Do you believe it is?
Lila: I don’t know…that’s why I asked you.
Today on a long car ride while watching an Aerial DVD…
Lila: Does an octopus have bones? Because I think the tentacles look jiggly.
Me: Probably not, but why don’t you ask Siri, I’m driving. (hand her the iphone)
Lila: She can’t find anything. (later we searched the web on my phone, and no they don’t have bones. I’m sure you were dying to learn the answer!)
Lila: If Aerial is a mermaid, how come her daughter has legs and not fins?
Me: Because when she had Melody, Aerial was a human?
Lila: If we go to the beach will I see a mermaid?
Me: Uh no.
I am thankful my 2 year old doesn’t ask questions….yet. What’s the one question your child has asked that totally stumped you? Answer in the comments below!
My 7 year old is asking about Santa big time this year. I’ve been trying to keep it going for her because she is the type that will tell everyone when she figures out! Out of desperation I referred back to The Polar Express and reminded her that you have to believe if you want to hear the bell. Not the best answer but all I could do on the fly. As for the other questions, I think looking it up together is a great idea! My 5 year old has asked some interesting ones that’s for sure. I never thought about these types of things when I was their age.
I blame the ipad! They are smart little buggers but they keep us on our toes!
hahaha! Oh man, she sure is inquisitive! My youngest sister is 7…she’s not so much in the question-asking stage, she’s in the stage where she decides the reasoning behind events, whether they are true or not. “That store is called Target because it sells archery equipment.” “A diary is the kind of book that is only for yourself, while a journal you can share with others and let them read.” Sometimes we just let her keep thinking on her own explanations of life, but for the more important bits we do try to explain the truth!! 🙂
I dread when she gets to the teen years!
These are hilarious! I heard a great tip when it comes to answering kids questions. Some questions are just too heavy for kids to carry, much like a large suitcase is too heavy for kids to carry {you may even want to have them try to pick up a heavy suitcase}. Parents are given to kids to help them carry these heavy loads. When they are ready to carry the answers to those questions, parents will give them the answer, until then it’s something Mom will have to carry for them.
I explained this analogy to my son {also 4 years old}. When I want the questions to stop, telling him the answer to that questions is something Mommy will have to carry for him for a while, it usually ends there. I don’t have to say it often, but it does help to put an end to the conversation.
Found you on SITS Saturday Share Fest.
~ Ferly
Gifts We Use {to grow, love and serve}
Great advice…thanks for sharing.
Depending on the question I will let him know when he’s older he can get a straight answer for now I try to give him sugar coded versions – he is very intrigued as to how my niece is coming out since my best friend is pregnant O_o I told him when he’s older I’ll give him some background info. Enjoy all the questions and hope they don’t stop 🙂 They let us know they care and value our opinion! Hav ea great one Kristen! -Iva