There was this boy who lived on our street in Dollard Des Ormeaux a long time ago, around 3 years old. He was obsessed with my 1 year old sister, so he was always around. He was a flurry of “Why”. We tried so many times to keep answering his questions that would come of our answers but… kids are too smart ;_; We could never satisfy, there was always another question. Drove me crazy and I was only 7.
Oh godddddddd the whys… We’re at peak why right now with our 3-year-old son. His opinion on Justin Timberlake: “I like him. He so funny. Why he not have police songs?”
The secret to stopping it: “why do you think?” Or “what do you mean, ‘why’?”
That was my grandmother’s response.
My sister’s response was to make each answer into a very long story. In this case it would be a story about how people get hungry because they use up all the food to keep going, and when we get hungry we like to eat because that’s the best way to stop being hungry, and everybody prefers cooked food to raw food so Mummy has to cook it etc, etc, etc… In the end the little one would be unable to pick on any one part of the answer to turn into a question.
It drove me mad listening to it, but at least it kept my nephew quiet!
When it gets especially bad, she asks questions in circles. “Why are you cooking dinner?” “Because we’re hungry and need to eat.” “Why do we need to eat?” “Because we’re hungry.” “Why are we hungry?” “Because we need to eat.” “Why do we need to eat?” etc.
When my mom started to get impatient with those why questions, she would answer: “because of the wool!”. It confused us enough to stop asking for a bit.
There was this boy who lived on our street in Dollard Des Ormeaux a long time ago, around 3 years old. He was obsessed with my 1 year old sister, so he was always around. He was a flurry of “Why”. We tried so many times to keep answering his questions that would come of our answers but… kids are too smart ;_; We could never satisfy, there was always another question. Drove me crazy and I was only 7.
Why do we eat?
Oh godddddddd the whys… We’re at peak why right now with our 3-year-old son. His opinion on Justin Timberlake: “I like him. He so funny. Why he not have police songs?”
Oh, and look up “Dat Dere” by Tony Bennett.
The secret to stopping it: “why do you think?” Or “what do you mean, ‘why’?”
That was my grandmother’s response.
My sister’s response was to make each answer into a very long story. In this case it would be a story about how people get hungry because they use up all the food to keep going, and when we get hungry we like to eat because that’s the best way to stop being hungry, and everybody prefers cooked food to raw food so Mummy has to cook it etc, etc, etc… In the end the little one would be unable to pick on any one part of the answer to turn into a question.
It drove me mad listening to it, but at least it kept my nephew quiet!
Oh, man, I wish that worked for us. When I try that maneuver, I get an indignant “I don’t KNOW!” in response, and then she’s back at it.
It’s pretty strongly correlated with being hungry and/or tired around here. I call it being full of fusses and whys.
When it gets especially bad, she asks questions in circles. “Why are you cooking dinner?” “Because we’re hungry and need to eat.” “Why do we need to eat?” “Because we’re hungry.” “Why are we hungry?” “Because we need to eat.” “Why do we need to eat?” etc.
Totally NSFW, but Louis CK tells you why… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJlV49RDlLE
Oh man, I totally remember that happening! Now I know why and how.
When my mom started to get impatient with those why questions, she would answer: “because of the wool!”. It confused us enough to stop asking for a bit.
I always say “Don’t say why, say yes ma’am.”
I know I’m stifling their creativity but it’s the best I got.
omg that is a lot of questions for a kid