Why is the sky blue? Why do animals have fur? Why? Why? Why? Toddlers and preschoolers are equipped with a natural curiosity about their surroundings. At first you're so impressed by your child's inquisitiveness. How brilliant she is to be questioning the meaning of life at this tender age! After a few days, weeks or months of Why? questions, however, you're no longer impressed ... now you're just annoyed. (Admit it. It's true.) It's wonderful that your child wants to know everything about anything, but you don't have to provide a textbook answer to every question. The Why? questions have a tendency to snowball. It starts with an innocent, "Why is the sun round?" and before you know it you're in way over your head with in-depth questions about the solar system and astronomy. Often times, the Why? is just a way of clarifying something your child didn't get the first time around. But sometimes the Why? is a habit. You can help your child break the habit like this: Answer the child's initial question with an age-appropriate answer. Then, instead of allowing your child to respond with more Why? questions, you could ask her some questions. This is beneficial in a couple of ways: it encourages two-way conversation, and it's a good way to determine how much of the answer your child actually grasped. Help her further by encouraging the use of other questions that will result in less generic answers -- Who? What? Where? When? and How? Enjoy the Why? stage for as long as you can. Someday your child will be a teenager who makes baffling decisions, and you will be asking, "Why?"