In F. Scott Fitzgeraldâs short story âHead and Shoulders,â the young prodigy Horace explains: I was a âwhyâ child. I wanted to see the wheels go around. My father was a young economics professor at Princeton. He brought me up on the system of answering every question I asked him to the best of his ability.
A â âwhyâ childââwhat a delightful phrase! Isnât that who weâre trying to raise? A child who knows how to figure things out. A child who isnât content with taking things at face value, who isnât satisfied with simple explanations.
Can this be annoying? Absolutely. It can even get them in trouble. But curious is better than complacent, and annoying is better than ignorant.
To be sure, there will be times when youâre too tired to answer their questions. There will be other moments when you feel their questions are inappropriate. But in those moments, you must pause and breathe and remember that you have to seed this habit. You have to make sure you water it tooâand do your best never to stamp it out.
The more questions they ask, the better. Not just for you or for them but for the world they live in.