My 3 year old recently entered the "why?" phase. She's usually very talkative and inquisitive, and this "why" thing has taken it to a whole new level. And it's killing me. Non stop questions. All. Day. Long. "Why is there no 'I' in my name?" "Why did you give me PB&J for lunch?" "Why don't we eat trees?"
I love that she's curious about the world and wants to talk to me, but good lord is it exhausting. For those that have been, or are going through it.....how did you not lose your mind??
honeydew / 7283 posts
No help here but this is us all day every day. I just try to remind myself that this is how she is learning and that her (often) ridiculous questions don't sound crazy to her. It's completely exhausting though.
kiwi / 735 posts
I taught preschool for a bit and learned to ask kids "why do you think?" we would give them time to think about it and then discuss their thoughts. It teaches them to think more concrete and gives the adult opportunity to teach. Also helps kids start to learn to solve their own problems.
pineapple / 12566 posts
I actually enjoy this phase, don't get me wrong, it does get tiresome, but I absolutely love to see my son absorb information and remember it later in other situations. I indulge him with answers for as long as my patience allows, and I also ask him what he thinks. If it's something we've already talked about, I try to jog his memory and get him to remember things we have already discussed.
eggplant / 11824 posts
We are in the phase too….why? Why are we in this phase? 
So, I have 2 ways to deal with the constant “why”, especially when I feel like they are not genuine and are more just reflexively asking. I turn it around and ask LO what she thinks – “why/what do you think?” and if she is clearly just asking why to get on my nerves then I will only respond “because I love you!”, no matter what she asks.
A lot of times I'll tell her I'm not sure, and why don't we talk about what she thinks.
pear / 1946 posts
It's not so much the questions that get to me, it's the questions that don't really have an answer.
Also, I'm a fairly quiet person, I don't usually talk a lot, so the days of non stop talk and questions are so exhausting to me. Especially now that I have a 4 month old that doesn't sleep through the night.
pineapple / 12053 posts
i can't find the article, but it basically said, "why?" is just a way for kids to get more information. so instead of just answering their question, expand on it more. why are we watering the plants turns into me explaining (simply) how plants grow and what they need to grow, what comes out of them, etc.
pomelo / 5720 posts
If it's something he knows the answer to I will say "why do you think" or "you know why, remember?". If I don't have an answer, I tell him so by saying "I don't know the answer to that" or "mommy doesn't always know everything" and that sometimes helps 
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
@Keybee: I'll have to keep in mind the "why do you think" question. I like it!
@birdofafeather: Good point. Expand. I'll have to keep this in mind also!
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