Kids have this gift of cutting through the fluff and getting to the most important question their inquiring minds want answered – “Why?” My youngest says “Why, Mommy, why?” in the cutest little voice with a hint of a Chinese accent.
Besides the classic “Why is the sky blue?”, from my family, I have heard…
Why can’t we have pizza for dinner (again)?
Why does that man walk like that?
Why don’t you and Daddy take baths?
And tonight, I heard “Why do male gymnasts wear pants (when female gymnasts don’t)?”
They see patterns and call it out when things don’t make sense to them.
Tonight’s question made me wonder – maybe all the various conversations/protests/changes we are seeing around diversity, equity and justice is because we are finally listening to our kids and not dismissing their questions or just expecting them to adopt the way things have always been. Maybe the reason some “Why’s?” are so hard to respond to is because we don’t like the answer but now they can no longer be ignored. Maybe our “woke” kids are waking us up.