When The Why Button Gets Stuck

It is the age of discovery. Four. When life begins to get really interesting. For the four-year-old. And for their  parents. The kid is seeing things in a different way than he ever has before. And the parents are desperately searching for the remote to turn off the why button.

At our most recent trip to the emergency room…Why are there beds in here? So people who don’t feel good can lay down until the doctor comes in to see them. How did the doctors get here? (Note: by this time, it is after 3:00 a.m. and we’ve been here for over four hours.) They followed the nurses. Why did the nurses come here? Because this is where they work. Why do they work here? Because the doctors need them. Why do they need them? They are afraid of needles. Oh. Why…? I don’t know.

Driving home from the mall…wow, that’s a tall building. What kind of building is that? An office building. What’s an office building? Where people go to work. Is it fun work? Not always but sometimes. I don’t think I want to work there. You’re too young anyway. (At this point, I am biting my tongue, wondering why I kept the conversation going.) Why am I too young? Because they don’t let kids work until they are, like, 18. Why? Hey, Elijah, look at that dump truck!!!

Pointing to my hair…what’s that white stuff? It’s some of my hair. Why is it white? Because I need to color it. Will you color it red again? Yes, I will. Why do you color it red? So it matches the rest of my hair. Why does your hair get white? Because you ask so many questions. Why do I ask so many questions? Because that’s how you learn things. Why do I need to learn things? Hey, Elijah, do you want some chocolate?

Why can’t I go outside? Because it’s raining. Will I shrink if I get wet? Yes, you will. Why is it raining? Because the flowers and grass need water. Why do they need water? So they can grow and look pretty. Do I need water to grow and look pretty? Only at bath time. Where does the water come from? It comes from the sky. What’s water? *facepalm*

Ok. I get it. He’s four and he has a lot of questions. And that’s how kids learn. But every other sentence out of his mouth is a question. Will he ever stop?  I sincerely hope not. Seriously, I hope he never stops.