How long does the "Why?" phase last???
I love my daughter, but I could do without having to explain every little thing I say and do... repeatedly. Jason has figured out that he can stop the why train if he gives her a long, technical answer she's too young to understand. Tonight I overheard him explaining in great detail why it was raining outside. My problem is (a) I don't remember 6th grade science facts as accurately as he does and (b) I don't have that kind of patience.
I try to answer all of her questions, but there have been a few times when I've had to shut the whole thing down. She asked me the other day, "Why are bad guys bad?" I smugly thought to myself, I've got this...
"They don't have something called empathy. Empathy is understanding and caring about how other people feel. They don't have that."
"But why?"
"Um... Because God made them that way... I guess."
"Why did God make them that way?"
"I changed my mind... I don't think God made them that way. I think maybe life made them that way. Can we talk about something else now?"
"Why do you want to talk about something else?"
"Because you're 3 and this is getting a little weird."
"Why?"
At this point I went with a response designed to foster the development of her inquisitive nature. Wait... No, I didn't.
"Oh! I see an airplane! Where do you think that airplane is going?"
Confession: There was no airplane.
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