Age of Reason

For whatever reason, when Lil was a toddler, she missed the "WHY?" phase...you know, that annoying question that crops up in response to each parental statement. While she made up for it in temper tantrums, we still felt like we had a pretty easy go of her toddler hood. But in the years that followed I would ask Lil why questions, and she was not able to grasp the concept...

Mom: Lil, why did you put your Dora stickers all over Bella?
Lil: Because it's not acceptable.
Mom: No, that's why you are NOT supposed to stick stickers all over Bella.
And so the confusion would persist. (Although in reality, Lil does enjoy doing some things just because they are unacceptable and maybe I was the confused one)

Why is the question that helps us unravel the mysteries of life, examine our own motivations and behaviours, discover cures for terrible diseases. Without why, there would be no search, only the status quo. Why is the hot button question in psychology, criminology, and cancer research yet it is such a difficult concept to teach.

Recently, Lil's been put at a desk in her own "zone" at school because she is a fidget...drops her pencil 100 times a day, gets up to sharpen it after she drops it, goes to the water fountain, bathroom or whatever else she can think of to stave off her personal boredom with education. Her teacher thinks she is just a klutz (not realizing her talents as a gymnast).

"Lil, why do you drop your pencil 100 times a day?"
"Because its not acceptable."
"Well, lets do an experiment. We know what the problem seems to be, lets find a solution"

So I spend an hour wandering through Walmart, and find summer rubber kids rings, elastic twine and refillable lead pencils. We tie the ring and the pencil together with the twine and when she puts the ring on...voila...she can no longer drop the pencil. I show her how to use the refillable pencil so that she no longer needs a trip to the sharpener. She eyes the whole thing with moderate amusement.

In an attempt to help her connect the dots in this research process I say "OK in experiments we identify the problem and come up with a potential solution to try out...so what's the solution Lil?"

"Fifteen" says she.

Just then my dear man phoned from his on call post in L&D, saving Lil from witnessing a moment of maternal hysteria followed by a prolonged time out. I did have difficulty recounting the story to Tony without laughing pretty hard but tired of the unappreciated maternal efforts I pulled out a box of Kraft and said to the peanut gallery:
"You guys are getting Mac and Cheese for supper tonight"
"Why?" asked Grace