20 Questions? Must Be Nice…

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20 Questions_

On a recent trip to St. Louis, I came across this sign at The Magic House, an absolutely amazing children’s museum there:

IMG_20150804_154310_882My initial thought? “Only 437? Isn’t that a bit low?” Of course I had to put this claim to the test. Perhaps needless to say, I made it to somewhere in the mid 100s before I gave up counting (it was 10:30AM). But, as I tracked my 4 year old’s seemingly endless barrage of questions, I found that most all of them fit rather neatly into the following five categories. If you have a four year old you are probably already familiar with these. If you do not yet, consider yourself warned…

Questions asking why.-1Pretty obvious, right? A large percentage of four year old questions fall into this category. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, requires an explanation. Especially those which, in my mind, seem to go without saying.

“Why do I need to wear both shoes? Why can’t I wear just one?”

“Why can’t I go swimming in my underpants?”

“Why do we have to eat breakfast every single day?”

I have found that “Because I said so” is an acceptable answer for any and all questions of this type.

Questions asking why.-2 I have to admit, not every question asked by a four year old is totally worthless.

“Where are we going?”

“How much longer until we get there?”

“How much longer now? And where are we going again?”

Annoying? At times, yes. Especially when asked over and over and over again. But definitely answerable, no matter how many times you have to do it.

Questions asking why.-3 These are those questions which require either a) an encyclopedia or b) a vast store of trivia-type knowledge to answer.

“How tall is the very tallest building in the whole world?”

“What color is the dirt in China?”

“How long would it take to fly to the moon?”

Someone has an answer to all these questions. It’s just not always me. In these instances I refer him to his father, because Daddy knows everything, right?

Questions asking why.-4While often times my lack of quick recall trivia stands in the way of an answer, there are questions that just plain do not have one.

“Do aliens eat mustard?”

“If I was a tyrannosaurus, and if I could fly, how high could I go?”

“Will there be purple cows in heaven?”

These questions will leave you both scratching your heads – AND – wondering where in the world they come up with this stuff.

Questions asking why.-5I think every child, regardless of age, has these. Those questions that they know you can not, will not, or just plain hate to answer. But they ask them anyway. Because they can. In many cases these questions fit into the other four categories quite nicely, but its how they are asked (or how often) that lands them in this one. A few of my favorites:

“Are we there yet?”

“Do I have to eat all my vegetables?”

“Why can’t you just clean my room?”

I’m sure every parent could add one or two (or twenty) to this list. Because with 437 questions to choose from, chances are there are at least a few you never want to hear again.

 

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Emily Ringo
I am a Cincinnati girl, born and raised. After a brief hiatus to attend the University of South Carolina (go Cocks!), my husband and I moved back home with a 1 year old in tow (she's now 10!). Since then, we have added three more kiddos to our family (ages 6, 4 and 2), and I am lucky enough to hang out with them all day. We love reading, getting crafty, and making huge messes that we will definitely clean up...tomorrow. When I'm not surrounded by children, I dabble in exercise, enjoy reading a good book, and can frequently be found binging on Netflix with my favorite guy. About a year ago, a Pinterest “I can do that!” project painting little superheroes for my son turned into an Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/woolyllama) which I manage to run in my “free time”. I may be slightly sleep deprived, but I wouldn't trade a minute of my crazy, busy, wonderful life!

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