because

on mother's day, katie's brother stopped by my parents' house to say hi since his own mother wasn't in town that day.  he was asking me if ben has entered the "why?" phase.  i laughed and said no.  two days later, ben began asking why.  to e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!  at first, i answered every why as best i could.  i thought, "look at me - super mom.  my kid is going to be so smart because i'm a wonderful and patient mother who takes the time to explain things..." after a thousand "why?"s later (a period of maybe 3 days), i was like, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  QUIT ASKING WHY!!!"  haha.  while i'm still trying to answer the whys some of the time, i have resorted to responding with, "Because," once in awhile.  the first time i said it, ben said, "because?"  and i replied "yes."  you could see the wheels turning in his little 2.97 year old brain.

very quickly, ben has taken the word "because" and started using it to his advantage.  yesterday, he opened the container of chips on the counter even though i'd said no and ate some.  when i realized this, i said, "why did you do that, ben?"  "because!"  the last two mornings, he's been awake SO early.  grumpy me asked him this morning, "why are you waking up so early?"  he replied, "because!"  sigh.  i guess i should go back to trying to answer his whys and maybe he'll start answering mine.  ;)