Andy and I have just left for a 12 day mission trip to Bangkok. Ellie is staying home with my mom. She has only made peace with this fact yesterday as she really wanted to come with us. I wanted to share one quick story from the previous week as our trip begins. (It is amazing how much one can get done on those long plane flights without a toddler in tow…)
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Everyone warns you about this stage. The why stage. The constant barrage of questions trying to understand how the world works. I don’t mind the incessant question of why most of the time. It is fun introducing Ellie to new ideas and basic concepts. We have been talking about tides recently as we walk along the beach and Ellie notices that the water is sometimes much closer or farther away from our trail. Her eyes grow big as she tries to wrap her mind around the fact that the moon in the sky effects the ocean. Those are the fun why questions.
But then there are other times that the why questions are tiring and impossible to answer. They usually start out innocently enough: “Why is there a foot rest on the rocking horse thingy at the park?” If my answer doesn’t make sense or I didn’t explain it satisfactory, Ellie will simply ask me the same question again. I usually try to explain it better then. But by the third or fourth time of the same question, it is hard to give her any reasons.
This happened the other day at the park. Ellie was trying to chase down why the park was built the way that it was. After multiple attempts, I finally looked at her and said, “Mmm, I don’t know. Do you know why?” Without missing a beat, Ellie replied, “I’m 3! I don’t know everything, Mommy.” I looked right back and told her that I’m an adult and I don’t know everything either. That stumped her for a minute. It was a great open door. We then talked about how Mommy still learns new things now, but God knows everything. In fact God is the only one who knows everything. Ellie liked that idea and is still telling everyone who asks
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