Thursday, June 19, 2008

Why?

Why do 3.5 year olds ask so many questions? Questions that I wouldn't know the answer to.

"Why is that car parked there? Why is red?"

"Why is it raining? Why is it still raining?"

"WHY WHY WHY WHY?"

And why do I find myself so short on patience?!? I'm usually good till after lunch, then I get so frustrated and TIRED of the question asking. I need to pray for more patience. I need to respond in a better tone of voice.

I feel better for venting. Please leave me a comment and tell me that your kid asks all the "why" questions too and that you struggle with being patient in the midst of it? Thanks. :)

14 comments:

Michelle said...

Well, they're not my kids, but the kids I nanny for...the 5-year-old...oh my goodness. So many questions. Today it was all about bees. She's afraid of them. So every gnat that flew by..."Is that a bee?" with tears. "Ella, is it black and yellow?" "No." "Is it big?" "No." "Does it make a buzzing sound?" "No." "Then it's not a bee!" 5 seconds later repeat conversation with a fly, a beetle, a mosquito, a real bee, another gnat, etc, etc, etc. Gotta love it, huh?

Etta said...

WHY does it bother you so much??

Hee, hee, sorry I couldn't resist.

My dear Char, you are not alone. Not to be discouraging, but Jamie is FIVE and still asks questions all the time. The questions just get more complicated. WHY are some people mean? WHY does daddy have to go to work? HOW... WHAT DOES xxxx mean? Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Some days I think I would rather pull each of my hairs out one at a time rather than answer another question.

So, yes, I feel your pain. Totally normal.

Keetha Broyles said...

Been there.

It changes - - - maybe not for the better, but it will change.

I promise.

Thanks for coming to my baby blogging extravaganza, which is STILL going on, btw.

Really great to have a baby I can enjoy WITHOUT raising!!! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! Yes! And why does it have to be those questions that make no sense and can't be answered? The only answer is "because it is!" I know it's part of normal development, but I so lose my patience with that way too much as well. You are not alone!

Jonelle Yates said...

Charity,
3 1/2 year olds do it. So do precocious verbose not-even 2 1/2 year olds. It just starts younger. Ella says "Why No" every time I tell her something she's not supposed to do. It was cute for a little while and yes, it does get tiring too.

martha said...

We taught our son to "hold his questions in his heart" when we just couldn't answer anymore at that moment. That way, he could still ponder them freely but had to learn the selfcontrol to keep some thoughts to himself for short amounts of time...the good thing is, all those questions now leave the door open for great communication and honest and open hearts later so you are preparing the soil for when she is a teenager and you will WANT her to ask YOU the whys and anything else...but yeah...it is frustrating and overwhelming and that is normal...
I am a friend of Sandi's by the way and we used to work for the same company as you guys in a different part of the world...we pray for you and your life there with knowing hearts!!

Amy said...

Kaelin hasn't gotten into "why" as much, but she wants to know the name of every person we causally pass or come in contact with. She asks me very loudly, "Is that a MAN or a LADY? What is his name?" If I don't know their name, she wants me to ask - like I want to go around asking every stranger what his/her name is. It's bad enough that I'm having a conversation with my toddler about them, right in front of them.

Seth, Jen, Hannah, Cailyn, and Isaac said...

Oh holy goodness!!! YES!!! "Mommy, is that a bird?" "yes" "why is it a bird?" "because that's how God made it." "why did God make it that way?" ARGH!!!!!!

The Liberto Family said...

I'm not ready for that! I have at least 2.5 more years before Melissa starts that up

LF said...

Well...that is why i have dogs :-)

Rhiannon said...

At the moment it's just one of those things that children go through to find out things about the world around them...I suppose if we didn't know about our world we would ask loads of questions too. Megan at the moment is exactly the same...why why why???? I just reply WHY do you think that Megan...she has a little think...and still asks why...lol...that's life eh!

Sarah said...

I like the "hold questions in heart" idea. I need to use that one as I have two "why-ers," my precious 5 and 3 1/2 year olds. And some of their whys are VERY hard questions. :)

Marc and Charity said...

Thanks y'all for all your comments! Glad to know I'm not the only one frustrated!

Tad and Monica said...

I'm a little late.....but when I get frustrated I just start asking Zachary questions in the same way. After a few times, he gets fed up with it and stops....sometimes. :)