Why?

MY father always said to me when I was younger, “The most important question in the world is ‘why?’"

I think he passed on the same advice to my son, because these past few weeks it's felt to me as if Zenchai has transformed himself into Magnus Magnusson (former presenter of popular TV quiz programme Mastermind).

Every statement or remark is now followed by that magical question – why?

I don’t want to quash Zenchai’s thirst for knowledge and information – and it’s probably a four-year-old’s natural curiosity to know how things work in the world – but it’s exhausting.

There is no end to the question. Here's a quick example from this morning: “Do crabs have ears?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know.”

“Why?”

“Let me look it up. (Some minutes later) 

“They don’t have ears. They have lots of tiny hairs on their hard shells and these act as sensors and allow them to detect movement.”

“Why?”

Get the picture?

And, yes, I’m having a great time travelling, but spending lots of time with your children comes at a cost - sometimes to your sanity (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).