“When birds chirp together, is that how they speak to one another?” “Who decided that green means go and not the color blue?” “How did the doctor get me out of your stomach?” Are just some of the questions my four year old has asked me in the past couple of days. Quinn has always been an inquisitive child; however, the quantity and quality of questions has increased exponentially over the past few months. There are times when I feel like “Mommypedia” (The parental version of Wikipedia) or my daughter’s personal search engine who must yield results and provide an answer immediately because “I don’t know” is usually not acceptable and simply leads to more in-depth follow-up questions.
Of course, the barrage of questions can be overwhelming, and after a long day I may long for a mommy version of Siri or Alexa to answer everything for me. Nevertheless, I am flattered and honored that she looks to me for guidance and clarity and holds my response in a high regard. Also, her questions challenge my critical thinking and make me ponder over why something is the way that it is when I’m too sure, which is a fantastic way to keep me on my toes.
I treasure our conversations and love how she listens so intently to my responses because I know that similar to some people who come to the realization that just because it’s on the internet it is not necessarily true that she will one day feel that her mommy doesn’t have all the answers. Here’s to all of the “mommypedias” and “daddypedias” trying their best to keep up with the search for answers from their children.
All the best,
Tanya
While it was only a little over a year and a half ago that my little girl began putting together two and three word sentences, it seems like she’s been talking since day one. My soon to be three year old (in May of this year) has become so articulate, has questions about everything and wants to share information about everything too. This has been a wonderful experience because we’re having actual conversations where she is responding and engaged in what we’re talking about. She’ll ask me, “How was your day, Mommy?” or “Did you have a good night’s sleep?” When I tell her we will be going somewhere, she’ll ask, “Are we going to Target?” This is one of her favorite stores.
Mommy's Baby Steps 