But How Do You Know?

It's still early and the house is mostly quiet. I say mostly, because our lightest sleeper and earliest riser has already sprung out of bed.

As I'm unloading the dishwasher, Matt comes around the corner, "I want cereal."

"Okay, we'll get you some cereal after you get dressed."

I then escort him back to his room and find some clothes for him to wear. I lay them out on the floor next to him and tell him to dress quickly, but quietly, so he doesn't wake the others in the house.

I leave him to his newly assigned duties and put a load of laundry in the washer. I step down the hall and listen at my bedroom door and realize the shower is running and opt not to turn on the washing machine until Coralee has finished showering. From experience, I've learned it's best not to turn on "water-abusing" machines in the house until everybody is done with baths or showers.

I peek in on Matt and see that he is completely naked and is now distracted by some of the books and toys in his room.

"Get dressed Buddy!"

"Okay."

I walk out to the backyard and take in the beauty of the new day. All is well except for the lawn that is burning up and is brown in some areas. I make my way back into the house and into the garage so that I can manually kick on one of the watering stations. The cooler temperatures of the last couple of days should help, but the weatherman's prediction of rain over the weekend never happened.

I walk back outside and decide I will water the sections closest to the patio with the hose.

As I'm spraying down the dry patches, Matt comes up behind me.

"Why are the sprinklers on?"

"Because the grass needs water to grow. Do you see those brown spots on the lawn?"

"Yeah."

"Those are brown because the grass is dying right there. It's not getting enough water."

I can see him working this over in his mind. "But why are you using the hose?"

"Because the sprinkler isn't getting all the parts of the lawn like it should. I need to turn them all on and see why this part of the lawn isn't getting the water."

His mind triggers news questions, "why can't you see it?"

"Because the water comes on at night when we're all sleeping. But, if I turn it on during the day, then I can see what parts of the lawn are not getting the water."

"Who turns it on at night?"

"There is a computer that turns it on at night. I programmed the computer and told it when to turn on the water. That computer is pretty cool, because it does the job for me while I'm sleeping."

"But how do you know?"

After six children, four of which have gone through the "20 question" phase; you'd think I'd figure out how to handle the barrage of questioning and know when I was getting caught in the cycle that would never end. But, it took me until now to realize that every question I answer will lead to more questions. Who knows? He might start asking questions that have me questioning myself and that's just more brain power than I can handle right now.

I turn off the water and give him a hug, "let's go get your cereal."