why, mommy, just tell me why!

My son must ask me a hundred questions a day. "Why, Mommy?" is his favorite question. There is no topic off limits and my little guy will not take "I don't know" for an answer. Which is frustrating at times, because sometimes, I just don't know. I don't always have the answers to his constant questions. When I tell my little guy that "I don't know" he always responds the same way - "Just tell me, Mommy." His tone is imploring as though he can't believe that I am holding out on him. He truly believes that I have the answer and am simply choosing to keep it to myself. He has such confidence in me!

While all of his questions can be oh so frustrating and really really time consuming, it is a real confidence booster to know that my son actually believes that I can answer any question he lobs my way. It is awesome to think that he refuses to believe that there may be something I, his amazing mother, may not know.

So sometimes I find myself outright lying to him, just to get the questions to stop. My answer may be right, it may be wrong, who knows. But he believes it because I said it and so he moves on to his next question. This makes me feel bad though. I don't want to lie to my son. And how is he going to feel when he figures out that my answer wasn't entirely truthful? Which he will, one day. This kid is nothing if not smart.

Which brings us to the internet. Countless times I find myself telling my little guy that we will "look it up when we get home." I have logged enough hours of computer research time to present a graduate thesis. But I suppose I have learned a lot of odd trivia this way. If there is ever a contest based on trivia a 3 year old might know, I am shoe in.

Matthew's current topics of interest that generate question after question:

• how do trucks open their back doors? (you might not know this, but they all open differently.)
• where does the water go when it leaves my sink? (or any sink, for that matter.)
• how do repairmen fix trains? (do they go up on a lift, flip sideways...)
• Is this sound higher or lower? (he has learned the joys of drumming and is constantly questioning which sound is higher or lower, which is cool, really, except for when it takes 15 minutes to get out of the church after day care pick up because he is stopping to pound on everything. EVERYTHING.)

When I have answered 99 questions and I know there are more to come I remind myself how lucky I am that my little guy thinks I can answer his every query. I know there will come a time when he no longer believes that I know everything, when he stops imploring me to "just tell" him the answer. Until that time comes, I will cherish his questions. And I will wrap myself in the smiles and hugs he offers up when I have, finally, satisfactorily satisfied his current wonderings.