I Might Be a Bit of a Hypocrite

I realized this weekend that I might be a bit of a hypocrite . . .

My second child, Elle (age 7), loves to ask questions.  Lots of them.  Random questions.  Pointed questions.  Questions with easy answers and questions with no good answers.  But, A.  Lot.  Of.  Questions.

And, sometimes, I am annoyed by the questions, the sheer number of them.  Sometimes, I ask Elle to stop or wait, or (rarely) go ask her mother.

And this weekend, I realized that every time she asked a question, she was trying to make sense of her life, her world, and her experiences.  She was trying to learn more, and I was denying her that experience because I was tired or busy or embarrassed to not know the answer.  But, I was clearly stifling what comes natural to her – asking a lot of questions.

I believe strongly that school should be filled with STUDENTS asking questions are a far greater percentage.   Th students should ask more questions than the teachers.  And both the students and the teachers should sometimes struggle to get the answers to those questions.  Not all answers are quick or easy in life, and we have an opportunity (and in my opinion, a responsibility) to show that life does not always have the “right answer”.

Those of you who know me, know that a child of mine who asks me a lot of questions is exactly the child I deserve.  Yes, she is.  I deserve to be asked to match my professional support for inquiry with my parental responsibilities.  Anything less is hypocritical . . . And I am sure Elle will ask me what that means and why I am one.