"Why" is such a great word. Think about it. It bridges the gap between not knowing and knowing. Between confusion and answers. I guess Ryan used this word insistently until he was 14 or 15. That's what he told me anyway when I asked him how long he thought the "why" stage would last.
Sage entered the "why" stage a few weeks ago. It was pretty much overnight. All of a sudden I was telling her that "mommy has to go to the bathroom," and she was asking, "Why?" Yesterday I said, "Let's go outside and pick some lettuce," and she responded with, "Why?" And my favorite so far was this morning when I asked her to not ask mommy a question for a few minutes (it was before 7 a.m. and, well, I was tired) to which she responded, "Why?"
I haven't yet figured out my approach to this stage. I am answering most of the "why's," while others I just ignore because either she has moved on in her thought process or I have no brain cells left to actually respond. And sometimes I just ended up saying, "Because mommy said so." And that's my game plan so far. I'll let you know how it is working next week.
5 comments:
I had read somewhere that the beginning of the "Why?" questioning is also the beginning of the child learning moral reasoning...that it's not just "Don't hit your sister...", but it is "Don't hit your sister because that is not being kind and God wants us to treat others the way we want to be treated." So, I tried to answer a lot of the whys too. But at the end of the day, the whys can get a bit overwhelming...And so, "because I said so" works too. Besides, sometimes we can give an answer, and sometimes, it is just a matter of faith...believing that mommy has your good in mind, and this is what mommy thinks is best. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Good luck Amber!! You'll do quite well, I am sure...and kuddos to you for growing your own lettuce!!!
I try to answer a lot of the "why's", but then it helps me when I ask them what they think. I either get a hilarious reason why to something, or it just shuts them up for a little bit. Either way works for me, especially when I've heard it a million times in one day!! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WHY'S???
Oh, yeah. "What do you think?" can really change the course of questioning. And for all the whys I answer, "Because I said so" can really be a great answer, even if I cringe after hear it come out of my mouth!
No, my mother-in-law grows the lettuce, we eat it : ) I guess it's a pretty good plan. Yes, I just started the "challenging back" yesterday and it seems to be working for some things. Some things I guess she really just doesn't know the answer to -- like, "Why shouldn't we leave our sippy cups on the ground?" She was totally blank! Of all the approaches I think I prefer this one because I feel like we are having a mutual conversation rather than being hit by "why's" every which way ....
Jonah uses 'why' as an excuse to put off doing something he'd rather not do, like throwing his stick pile out of the house, or removing his feet from his sister's head. It's getting hard to tell the legitimate why's from the stalling kind.
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