Why?

One of Coco's favorite words, lately is "Why?".

"Coco, time to get dressed."
"Why?"

"No, you can't have any candy right now."
"Why?"

Or if it's really serious...
"No, you can't play outside right now."
"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?!?"

Sometimes I answer him. Sometimes I give him more answer than he wants and that seems to be pretty effective. It goes like this:

"Coco, it's time to get pajamas on."
"Why?"
"Because it's bedtime."
"Why?"
"Because it's getting dark outside."
"Why?"
"Because the earth has been rotating all day and has now rotated to the point where the sun is going to be on the other side of the earth for a few hours. So now it's time for us to have nighttime and for children on the other side of the earth to wake up and play."
"Oh."

My absolute favorite "Why?" moment of the last week was a few days ago. I was putting him to bed and he was having a particularly hard time going to sleep. Daddy came in to help. I'd already told him his two favorite stories (three bears and three pigs). So Daddy came up with another story.

"Once upon a time there were three sharks..."
"Why?"

We laughed and laughed and laughed. And it took even longer for Coco to settle down and go to sleep. But it was so worth it.