Jackassalope

The Joys of Parenthood

My daughter has reached the ripe old age of 19-months. And with that milestone, she has also developed several habits that make life as a parent much more trying – I mean fun. One being that my little angel has mastered the phrase “why?”

You would think that you could reason with the why, but you can’t. Sure, I come up with answers just as quickly as she can spout out her retort, but it gets exhausting. It’s to the point now where I’m starting to think that she doesn’t even care about what I have to say. In fact, I’m not entirely sure she even knows what why means. For example, this morning the following occurred:

“No honey, you can’t watch Blues Clues now.”
“Why?”
“Because daddy is watching ESPN.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s my morning ritual.”
“Why?”
“Because I work at a sports advertising firm, and I like to be up-to-date on the current issues.”
“Why?”
“So I can keep my job and afford to buy you all of that stupid shit you never play with but for some reason mommy thinks you still need.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure, maybe you should ask mommy about that.”
“Mommy, here?”
“No, mommy is sleeping.”
“Why?”

This is cute if you are watching a friend’s kid for an hour or two. This is cute if you’re visiting a relative and you want to show them how understanding and relaxed you are as a parent. This is not cute at 7 in the morning everyday of the week.