Do your kids ever ask you funny or awkward questions? Kiddicare recently surveyed of 2,460 parents of under 5s and found that most parents feel a pressure to make sure they are correctly answering their kid’s quick fire questions. They also found, that the most stressful place for kid’s to ask their parent’s questions is when parents are driving. We then feel guilty if we can’t come up with a correct answer.
I think those of us who are blessed with inquisitive children know exactly how the parents surveyed feel. Baby has only just turned three but her questions are like a constant stream of crazy mainly directed at me. I totally agree that the most stressful environment to field these questions is when driving, as you are so focused on the road and other road users, that it makes focusing on your child extra tricky.
Katie Kirby (Hurrah For Gin) illustrates some popular conundrums
I am a great example of someone who feels guilt when they are distracted and consequently not able to give my daughter what I feel is a proper answer to her question; even if the question is totally bonkers! I am worried about scarring her for life, when I didn’t tell her why she couldn’t hear the sea in the shell that was clamped to her ear.
Kiddicare have spoken to Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, child psychologist from Channel 4’s The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year-Olds to get her advice. You can read her full interview here, however the take home points for me were why children ask so many questions when they are in the car and why those questions can sometimes be a little more left field than usual. Elizabeth explains that the situation of driving, with the captive audience, the parent having their back to the child (so no eye contact), both of you being strapped in and the child becoming bored, all combines to result in the child beginning to talk at you rather than to you. They are simply vocalising what’s in their heads at the time, rather than specifically directing questions they really want to know the answer to; so don’t feel too bad if you don’t answer fully!
Elizabeth also says that you children aren’t going to be scarred for life, if they don’t get the correct answer to a question they ask you when they are 4! Which is a good point!
Baby’s most recent question while in the car, was more funny than tricky, but she asked me who the grumpy old man on the 2p coin she was holding was?! Oh and I can confirm it is VERY tricky to drive when you are crying with laughter. She also asked me if she could have Lamb flavoured juice from the shop and was most put out when I said that wouldn’t be possible….
Kiddicare have put together a great flowchart which is really useful and aims to give you a response all the questions your kids might ask, by dealing with questions as types. It’s actually great and gave me confidence in the way I answer questions my daughter poses; sometimes it is hard to know if you are doing the right thing!
Do you find your children ask lots of questions and do you often struggle with your response? Which environments are the most stressful to deal with your inquisitive kids? Have your kids ever asked any tricky questions? Share them on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #CarSeatConundrums.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.