We have all been there. Driving in the car, getting ready for work, even grocery shopping. Trying to stretch our attention span by carrying out everyday tasks, while spending time with our kids. It is in this exact moment that your three year old wants to open up the black hole of parent-child dialogue.

One word. Three letters. Why?

Why is a three letter word, so hard to answer but so easy for them to ask?

Because kids are great problem solvers. They never stop asking why. It is the nature of a child to continue their inquiry until they are satisfied with an answer and have soaked up as much information as possible. Once they arrive at an acceptable answer they subsequently use this information to define a root cause that they will use to explain a piece of their world. It is the same root cause our children will use (alongside a collection of many others) to determine their reality and shape their perception of the way the world works.

So what happens when we are too tired to engage or too distracted to come up with answers?

We say “because”, and miss an opportunity to sync our own reality with theirs. What are we teaching our kids when we do this? Are we unknowingly suggesting that we are not a resource for them to ask questions?

What are some of the ways you tackle the never-ending question of why with your child?