Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Why out of the wazoo

Why do we need rain? Are the trees gonna fall again? Why do we need trees? What is lightning?

We've had a rainy few months here in Georgia, which usually brews some pretty nasty thunderstorms. This also brews a barrage of questions from Hummingbird. Questions that I don't always know the answer to. Sometimes I know the answer but just don't have the energy to go into any of them because I know it will lead to another "why" question. I've read that the "why" questions reappear when kids turn 7. Didn't know they actually disappeared, huh?

So, this:
Atlanta Journal and Constitution


Lead to...



this:

 photo why1_zps71e1cfef.png

On the ride home yesterday, it hit me (thanks Holy Spirit). Whenever hit with a "why" question, I decided to have Hummingbird jump on the computer and research the question. Once she has the information, she has to write down three things that she learned about the topic. Then she has to tell us about the three things at the dinner table.

I'll tell you, Yogli was not too impressed with my idea. And after she hopped on the computer and got frustrated after only 5 seconds, I started to rethink my idea. Her frustration led to whining. Her whining led me to tell her "never mind". But I am working on being more consistent with them. One thing that I've learned as parent, kids need consistency. They just sit back and wait on the opportunity when you don't do what you said you would do. There are many times when I am too tired to reinforce a law I laid down the day before. And at those moments, they love throwing my law up in my face! At that point, I have a choice: keep and reinforce the law or say "never mind", we'll start again tomorrow. Both speak volumes to them. "My mom keeps putting things off", "My mom is not serious" or "Man, my mom is on her A game", I prefer the latter. Procrastination is a comfortable, yet ugly beast. At times, I have to use every fiber of my being to fight it off.

So, we worked through the tears. I tickled her a bit, she likes to be tickled. This got her back in the mood to answering her "why" question. She found out why we need trees. Now, for the presentation, she likes to put on a good show.

At dinnertime, I explained to MonkeyMan what was about to happen, he chuckled. Yogli laughed. After we said grace, she sprung into action.

How long can I keep this up? As long as it is of value, she keeps learning something new. I might even pick up something new. Especially since it's summer break, keeping her mind primed and ready is a good thing.

Wait, what's that I see? Is that the sun?

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me....and shine some light on all these questions Hummingbird keeps asking.


post signature

25 comments:

  1. I'm at that stage too!
    My 7 year old boy will ask "Mum, how do you get ore?" "Mum what makes metal?" like I'm a super duper clever scientist or chemist or whatever when I am just a M U M who studied biology back then instead of THAT hahah~. And you know what will follow when I tell him how we get ore or metal? Why? why? why? Ok Google, your turn to babysit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi DinoMama! Why you are a super duper clever scientist mom who knows everything! I am learning to be careful in her google searches, you know how being one letter off can send you to a site that you never intended on going to.

      Delete
    2. Well, usually I am the one at the keyboard so I am in control.

      Delete
  2. Oh my goodness, my almost four year old is starting all the questions. Thankfully they are still ones I can answer off the top of my head! haha

    Thank you for spreading JOY and sharing at the Oh What a HAPPY Day party.

    Holly at Not Done Growing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Holly, cherish these days of simple questions!

      Delete
  3. Wow, I like the way you turned the situation into a teachable moment!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, figured I would use this to my advantage and help her to learn how to research things. Would love to say that this has worked every time but moms use whatever tools they grasp at any given moment. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. I think Google will feature a lot in my sons life when he starts asking all the questions
    Thank you for linking up with the weekend blog hop

    Hope to see you again tomorrow

    Laura x x x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura, thanks for having me over on the hop!

      Delete
  5. My little boy is the same... it's a never ending "How come?" LOL - I just try to keep in mind that kids grow up too fast and then I'll be missing these moments.

    I'm a new follower from the SHOW OFF Blog party. Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

    Ritchil
    http://chengand3kids.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! As they grow, the questions grow harder to answer. My 16 year old still asks questions, which I am thankful for because he's a teen and still talks to me!

      Delete
  6. Love this! Would love to have you link it up at our Ladies Only Blog Share party! We have a summer theme this week. :) Visiting from Freedom Fridays blog hop!

    http://mommifried.com/ladies-only-blog-share-link-party-funtastical-summer/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love your blog!!! Looking forward to many great conversations and partnerships.

      Delete
  7. What a wonderful solution to those endless questions that can be so hard to answer! You are right about the dangers of being inconsistent. Speaking from experience, it will come back to bite you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And bite you hard it will (channeling my inner Yoda). It's like they can sniff out inconsistency and use it to their advantage. Thanks for stopping by Kim!

      Delete
  8. One misstep - and you're paying for it for months with my almost four-year-old! She had some princess on the bottle of her shampoo and she asked me the name and I wasn't thinking and said, "Princess Aphrodite." Since then I've been peppered with questions and I've had to make up a whole tale. And that's probably not the best way. I should have just said, "It's a random cartoon used to sell shampoo!" Doesn't sound as good, though..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should turn this into a children's book! You've put all of this thought into it, the fact that you've kept it going is impressive!

      Delete
  9. Consistency is the answer. After they know the rule isn't changing, they learn to stick with it. It does get easier for you once they learn that you aren't going to bend. It just is so hard to do sometimes! I love the Google idea, as you said she is learning on her own. Sometimes, the why question comes from boredom, you just eliminated the boredom. I have raised my four children ages, 40, 38, 36, and 18. I have been parenting many years so I have heard lots of whys.

    http://agutandabutt.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betty, I might have to pull from your wisdom chest, bet you got some good stories to tell!

      Delete
  10. That's a great idea! I often tell my son "I don't know, you can look it up on the internet", but I don't really follow through. He forgets after 5 minutes anyway. Now that summer is here, it's a great idea to have your kiddos keep on learning! (That's the teacher in me talking)
    Nikki
    www.rushedmommy.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, I try to sneak in the learning some way some how. Sometimes I think she just asks questions to see my reaction, they are so sneaky....

      Delete
  11. You mean there's more questions?!? FUN! right now I am in the "Mommy! Mommy! What's this?" phase with my 2 year old. LOL! Thanks for sharing with us @ My Favorite Posts SHOW OFF Weekend Blog Party!

    Jessica
    The Wondering Brain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Get ready, sis, the questions become tougher. Wait, you already know that probably since this isn't our first time at the rodeo! Was your oldest different though?

      Delete
  12. This is too funny! Kind of scary too, because It just thundered and lightened over here last night and I got a slew of questions from my 3 year old: "What's that noise"? "Why does it rain"? "What does that light mean"? "Can we go swimming"? (that was the funniest one) :o) Kids are too funny! By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment on my What are your children doing to drive you nuts post :o) Hope you had a wonderful Wednesday and have a great night!

    - croppedstories@gmail.com
    http://www.croppedstories.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I sit and type this, it is thundering and lightening! At any moment, I am expecting to hear feet hitting the stairs, probably followed by questions laced with sleep.
      Your daughter is soooooo adorable and obviously loves to swim, even if it's during a thunderstorm!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete