OMG, The Non. Stop. Questions.

[andreac]

So I have a pretty typical almost 4yo ds, who NEVER STOPS TALKING!! From the moment he wakes up, until he's literally snoring, he just doesn't stop, espescially with the questions. I'm mostly pretty patient answering the same question over and over and over and over but at bedtime, I'm about out of patience. My problem is that when we are reading his bedtime stories he (of course) has questions. Sometime they are "reasonable" but other times they are clearly stalling tactics to avoid going to sleep. So often he asks the question that is JUST about to be addressed in the story, so if he could just be a tiny bit patient he'd have his answer. It feels mean and wrong of me to not allow him to ask questions, but if I don't impose some sort of limit I'd be there for HOURS (seriously, the boy is amazing!). So do any of you have advice on how to word a limit on asking questions, with out dampening his curiousity?

Thanks!

[AbbieB]

:

My 3 year old DD's favorite relentless questions are:
"What time is it?"
"Does he have a penis?"

[Igraine]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

:

My 3 year old DD's favorite relentless questions are:
"What time is it?"
"Does he have a penis?"

Oh my goodness...

My ds says "you know?" All the time! It still cracks me up.

He asks millions of questions about everything. "What does that word mean? Why did that person do that?

He also talks non-stop at bedtime sometimes. Sometimes he falls asleep mid-sentence. I honestly think their little brains are so full that they cannot stop themselves. We do two stories, talk a little and then we cuddle up and the lights go out. He keeps talking and I (try) calmly remind him it is time to sleep....more questions....time to rest....a few more questions....and then he is asleep.

Good luck with your little guy.

[andreac]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

:

My 3 year old DD's favorite relentless questions are:
"What time is it?"
"Does he have a penis?"

We get "Am I a boy?" "Is Quinn a girl?" "Do I have a penis and Quinn has a vulva?" "Does she have a butt?"

[andreac]

Originally Posted by Igraine

Oh my goodness...

My ds says "you know?" All the time! It still cracks me up.

He asks millions of questions about everything. "What does that word mean? Why did that person do that?

He also talks non-stop at bedtime sometimes. Sometimes he falls asleep mid-sentence. I honestly think their little brains are so full that they cannot stop themselves. We do two stories, talk a little and then we cuddle up and the lights go out. He keeps talking and I (try) calmly remind him it is time to sleep....more questions....time to rest....a few more questions....and then he is asleep.

Good luck with your little guy.

Our bedtime routine is the same, 2 stories, a little chat and lights out. Does your guy ask questions during the stories? How do you deal with them? If I answered every question he asked while reading stories I'd be with him 'til midnight!

[hipumpkins]

WhenDD asks about the story I say, "let's listen to the story and find out"

[~member~]

Originally Posted by hipumpkins

WhenDD asks about the story I say, "let's listen to the story and find out"

: Then again, we do not do stories at bedtime because I like to be able to have discussions with my children.

[Igraine]

Originally Posted by hipumpkins

WhenDD asks about the story I say, "let's listen to the story and find out"

: We say the samething.

He used to ask a ton of questions during story time too. He is a little older and I think that has helped.

I think patience and a little time for your dc to mature a little bit will help. (I am certainly NOT the queen of patirnce. It used drive me crazy when he would constantly interupt the story). Now he is great with the story time. He is more into (constantly) interjecting things into our conversations and correcting my word usage. Future english teacher or lawyer, who knows!

[andreac]

Originally Posted by MamaInTheBoonies

: Then again, we do not do stories at bedtime because I like to be able to have discussions with my children.

MITB, just curious, do you mean discussion about the books you are reading, or just general discussions at bed-time instead of a book?

To everyone, yeah, I kinda figured it was a wait-it-out kind of phase. I came up with best analogy for it last night. It's like watching a movie with that person who, from the very beginning, keeps asking you "Why'd they do that?" "What's going on?" even when you've never seen the movie before.. YKWIM?

[hipumpkins]

It's like watching a movie with that person who, from the very beginning, keeps asking you "Why'd they do that?" "What's going on?" even when you've never seen the movie before.. YKWIM?

__________________

that's my aunt!~

[arwenevenstar]

Hey Andrea,

This is of no help whatsoever, suffice to say you aren't alone! Thomas (my eldest) STILL asks millions of questions all day long and many of them are expecting me to know the answer of something that is going to happen, you know, my telepathic skills are non-existant!!

I do try to answer as best I can, sometimes these days he asks me things that I really don't know the answer to, so we try to find out on the internet or in a book.

Hang in there, I am of the mindset that these curiosities are going to set them up well in the future, make them interesting and knowledgeable (I hope!!)

[andreac]

I think the frustrating thing is that he often doesn't even wait to hear the answer before he's on the next question. I do think that to a certain extent, he just likes to hear himself talk! If I'm in another room, I'll hear him kind of quietly talking to himself...still asking questions! If he were aksing ABOUT things it wouldn't be so bad, I actually love when he asks a REAL question. But all too often, it's ridiculous things that he obviously knows the answer to, like "Is that a TV?" Anway, I know that I was quite the chatty kid too, so my mom is probably laughing her butt of at me right now!

Hey Rach, totally off topic but I saw your post on the knitting board...I didn't know you were a knitter! We've had a crazy winter so far, but one of these days (soon I hope) we'll have to get together and knit and talk birth work!

[arwenevenstar]

Sorry this is now a hijack!

Andrea, hi, I am trying to PP you but it isn't letting me......grr, useless technology!!!

I would LOVE to get together. My smalls aren't off school next week, but Izzy only does am. Maybe we can get together one afternoon? I would love to see you guys!

Take care