Why?

Dear Elli,

You sure do ask a lot of questions.

Most of them are really easy to answer and make me feel like a freaking genius because I have the answer in less than one second and I should probably audition for Jeopardy. 

And then there are the zingers.  The questions that seem easy enough on the surface but are really pretty impossible and you look at me like you are the adult and I am the three-year-old when I tell you I don't know the answer.  Those suck. 

But in addition to sucking, they also make me think.  They make me realize that being a kid really makes your observations and questions much more relevant than mine sometimes, because most adults stop really thinking about things after awhile and just take them at face value.  You don't do that, and that's awesome.  But you probably will at some point, and that makes me kind of sad. 

So in an effort to hold on to these awesome questions of yours, I offer you the best of the best (so far):

1.  Why do birds fly?

2.  Why do ladies shave their legs but boys don't? 

3.  Why do some people have to be poor, and some kids don't have many toys?

4.  What does God look like?

5.  Why do people die?

6.  Why do boys have so much gas?

7.  Why are some people bad?

8.  Why do the letters of the alphabet and numbers look like they do?  Who made them up?  (This one is the most awesome and mind bending and unexpected, as I imagine some primitive hairy guy making up the alphabet and writing it with a stick in a cave somewhere...)

9.  Why can't Roscoe (our dog) talk?

10.  How does the internet work?

I could probably try to explain evolution or cultural norms or economic theory for some of your questions.  But at the end of the day, I still wouldn't truly have a very good  answer for you.  And even though I don't have the answers, we've certainly had some great conversations about these topics. 

You have come to the conclusion that ladies are weird for shaving their legs and God looks a little bit like Santa Claus and the internet is magic.  I think I can dig all of those conclusions...although I will continue to shave my legs, thank you very much.

And more than anything, I want you to never stop asking questions.  (Except when I am trying to get you ready to leave in the morning.  That is really annoying and I would welcome you not being annoying at 7:00AM). 

Anyway, I'm serious.  Don't become a douchebag adult with no ability to think outside the box.  Don't always take things at face value.  Try to remember how truly amazing the world can be, and how freaking unbelievable it is that we get to experience it.  And don't hesitate to question what doesn't seem right to you, whether everyone else accepts it or not.  (Just try not to take it to the extreme and be a complete weirdo.  And please shave your legs when you are an adult.  I know I don't really know why...but there's no need to make life difficult for yourself by looking like an ape.  It's really unnecessary.)

I love you.  And I love that you have forced me to think like a kid again.  Because thinking like a kid is awesome, and challenging, and super fun.  And I love it!

Love,

Mom