Why answer your child's 'why'?

My son came home from school yesterday and told me that the supervision aide who helps watch the kids on the school grounds when they're playing during recess or lunch, told him and his friend to stop digging little holes in the sandbox. He told me he didn't understand the reason behind her request. I told him that he could first tell her that he'll stop, and then ask her why in a respectful way. He said he did ask her why, and that she only repeated, "Stop digging those holes," and ignored his question.

When children are little, one of the first and often annoying questions they ask is, "why?". When our kids were small, both my husband and I tried our hardest to answer all the 'why's and refrain from shooting out a sharp, "Because!" We want to foster our children's curiosity, and most of all, we don't want them to take things at face value all the time or to feel as though they can't challenge authority. In short, we want them to think for themselves.

So, answer your children's 'why's. Why? Because it encourages their curiosity, gets them thinking, and keeps us as parents, teachers, caregivers on our toes!