Because it is.

This is the response I received from my two year old when I asked why he wasn’t wearing any pants. Grammatical errors aside, the boy makes a point. And he was parroting the most common I’m-in-the-middle-of-something-and-don’t-have-time-to-explain-my-reasoning-to-you response that I give offhanded to my children, not terribly often, but often enough that it has made an impact – the short sweet and to the point: because (commonly used in variations such as “because I said so,” “because that’s how things are,” “because I’m the mom,” and as demonstrated above in relation to my child’s pantless state, “because it is.”)

In other words, my son was too busy in his business of building a city and racing toy cars through it, to stop and tell me that he had knelt in a puddle of apple juice on the kitchen floor and decided to discard the uncomfortably damp-kneed pants and just carry on with the day.

That he had a reasonable explanation (which I discovered in the form of his wet pants beside the juice puddle), impressed me. And I considered that perhaps rather than asking a question at all, my first reaction should have been to handle the need at hand – putting pants on small naked legs – rather than trying to find a reason for what was in front of me.

After all, if he had taken off his pants to hang them on the front doorknob as a decoration, would that have made his legs any less in need of a new pair of pants?

Because it is.

Of course, there are times when asking why is appropriate as a means to a resolution. When the why leads us to a deeper understanding that helps us to grow, it serves a wonderful purpose. But I wonder how often I have hung myself up on pondering why, how often have I wallowed in it when I should have been looking at what was in front of me. How often should I have been the arms reaching or hands holding, when there have been situations in need of grappling, not retrospection.

How much less anxious would I be, if I could just rest in the knowledge that the greatest because I AM of all, well, says so?

Because it is.

Life wisdom from a Pull-up clad child. Yet another reason to love motherhood.