Imagine this scenario: You are fixing a small snack for your child who is sitting patiently at the dining room table. As you chop up some strawberries to eat, it starts. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? How come you don’t have a bedtime like me? Why do you make me eat fruits for a snack? Why can’t I have ice cream for dinner?
The questions are numerous! So much so, that many parents feel like their kids ask them over 100 questions per day. While it may not be that many questions, it can feel like it! So, what do you do? Should you just ignore the question? Should you just say because I said so to some questions? Most professionals recommend that you do take the time to answer the question, why is this?
For one, if you answer the question, you are giving your child a bit of knowledge that they can hold onto for later. For example, if a child were to ask why can’t they play outside today? If it is storming, with lightning and thunder, explain the dangers of this situation if they were to be playing outside. In the end, the child gets their question answered, and they also learn something![schema]
How to Have Patience
While it is easy to say that parents should be answering the many questions that their child may have, it can be another thing to keep the patience that will be required to answer a question. Here are a few tips for parents:
- Remember that kids are kids. Your job is to educate them and teach them right from wrong.
- An inquisitive mind showcases a child that has such potential in the world as an adult, encourage this!
- If you don’t know an answer, tell the child this. Then work together to find out the answer!
- If the questions get to be too much, there is no shame in telling your child that you are going to have 15 minutes of no talking to simply recharge. In fact, learning that sometimes you should be quiet is an important lesson for children.
Parent’s Don’t Have all the Answers
It is important that we all remember, parents don’t have all the answers. Even some subjects are hard for teachers to answer if that is not their expertise. However, with the help of Google, you can easily find an answer that is going to allow you to explain some of those harder questions to your kids!