Why?

That has been my biggest problem today. And I have realized it's not in the way that I always thought it would be. I remember those tv show/cliche scenes of kids asking why the sky is blue, or why dogs chase cats, or those questions that make you go, "Why on earth do you need to know the answer to that? Besides, I don't know the answer anyhow."

However, this is not the way Moose works. I would honestly prefer that version. His is, whenever I ask him to do something or make a request of him, he responds with, "Why?"

It is driving me bonkers. I am so completely one of those moms who constantly says, "Because I said so." Often with an exclamation point. Is the fact that I asked you not enough? And really, I don't think I would mind so much if he asked me an actual question, versus just saying why.

This is where our battle has begun. My sweet hubs, sensing my exasperation, made this ultimatum with Moose. For everytime he says, "Why?", he will lose an Easter egg from the birthday party he attended last Saturday. Oh yes. The battle has begun.

He did it shortly after dinner. The minute he realized what happened, he was jumping up and down, flailing his arms about like a limp noodle, crying that he wanted his egg back. Oh goodness.

He did it again right before he crawled into bed. I asked him to say his prayer. He was already knelt down next to his bed, assuming the position. Then he blankly looks up at me and says, you guessed it, "Why?"

Now, I don't have a problem with question asking. I consider myself a very tolerant explainer when it comes to question asking. However, we've come to realize Moose asks why simply for the habit and reflex of asking.

My request of Moose is, if you really want to know why, ask an intelligent question. (Yes, I used this terminology with my 3 1/2 year old. He knows tons of big words that he can't define. It's occasionally annoying, but I'm sure he'll have a large vocab that he can actually use one day because of it.) That is, don't just ask me why. If you really want to know why I'm asking something or whatnot, ask me, "Why do you want me to say my prayer?" or "Why do you want me to pick up my puzzle quickly?" Then I can respond with an answer such as, "Because we say a prayer to our Heavenly Father every night before we go to bed." or "Because your sister is trying to grab at them, and you're making her cry by snatching them away. So if you pick it up quickly, there will be less fighting."

I don't think I'm completely unreasonable. We'll see how many eggs he loses. We haven't determined yet how he can earn them back. I'm thinking if he can go a whole day without losing one, he can earn one back. So far, 2 eggs in the cupboard. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Precious Moment: Well, it didn't start out precious. The kids were driving me nuts as I was making a dinner or waffles, scrambled eggs, syrup, and homemade breakfast sausage made from ground turkey. So, to get them away from my ankles, I told Moose to go check and see if the hubs was here. He started heading for the door and Monkey saw him. She started squealing and jogging after him. Only to realize once he opened the door, that the hubs was not here. Monkey was crushed. I felt horrible. Then, when I knew he was here (we live on the second floor of an apartment complex and you can hear anyone walking up the stairs.) I told them to go look again and she was happy once again. Although I did notice she didn't squeal or jog like the first time. But still, it was sweet to see how excited she was for her favorite guy to come home.