My kids, like all kids, want to know everything about everything and the word “why” is central to their vocabulary. Often times, we get the unending “why” questions from both of them and, after a long car ride with them, I will be exhausted as I attempt to satisfy their questions.

For Matthew, the ways he asks his questions is, like most things he does, very cute…almost too cute.  He starts and ends his questions with “why”.  For example: “Why are those strawberries? Why?” or “Why are you making pancakes? Why?”

For Ben, it used to be a simple “Why?”, direct and to the point.  Now, it has developed a little more.  I have started to love the phrase, “What else…?”  If we are talking about a certain animal and he wants to know what they do, for example, I will tell him a little bit about something specific, we will discuss it and then he will be quiet for a moment and then ask, “What else does a lion do?”  For some reason, I just love when he does this.

Something else he does along this line is he will form theories on things around him (and, amazingly, he is often right) and he’ll phrase it something like this: “I think they made roads black because if they made them white, you wouldn’t know where the road was when it snowed.  Don’t you think, daddy?”  These theories, always end with “Don’t you think?”

The curiosity of these walking sponges is just amazing.  And while the relentless questions can be exhausting, it is fascinating to see their little brains at work.