Piglet is at that fantastic age of 4 where children learn not only better coordination, and social skills, but masses of knowledge as well. I actually really like to see him learn. He is doing really well with recognizing the letters and knowing what sounds they make. He is not so keen on writing, but that will come in time. I love it when he picks up a new skill or somehow applies the new knowledge that has learned.
But, he is also at this lovely age of 4 where they tend to ask a lot of questions. I usually try to answer them to the best of my ability because I believe that it helps him learn and it conveys the idea that asking questions about life is a good thing. I also try to answer them so he knows that I'm paying attention to him.
This is the hard part because sometimes, the questions are so many and they come so fast, that I really do start to tune him out. And he often asks questions when I'm trying to concentrate on something else...driving during rush hour, cooking dinner, typing on the computer. And sometimes I really do get irritated when he asks so many questions. I try my hardest to not let him know that I'm irritated, but that doesn't always work. And my rule of thumb is that I never ask him to stop asking questions, no matter how much I don't like it.
I'm afraid I don't always follow my rule of thumb. Peter asked if I was going to share this next little quip with you and my first response was. "No!" mostly because it was really irritating at the time and I was really angry about it. But in looking back at it, I suppose there is sort of a funny side to it. Here it is:
We were madly trying to get ready for stake conference. Because we have afternoon church, it was much earlier than we normally get ready for church. In all the hustle and bustle of gathering snacks, toys, and other things to occupy their time, Piglet was asking questions incessantly. We finally got in the car and were on the way to the church and I had HAD it with the questions. I said, much more grumpily than I should have, "Piglet, stop asking questions! It's irritating!"
His response: "What does irritating mean?"
