Where is the land of why and how did I get here?

The Land of Why...yup, that's where I live.

With two kids under 6, "why" is a fairly common word in our house (after "no"). We get the standard "Why is the sky blue", "Why can't I drive the car", "Why is that lady so fat" (although fortunately not within said lady's earshot) etc. But while I am thrilled that my girls are inquisitive and want to know about the world, I'd be remiss if I didn't explain that "why" doesn't always mean "why" with kids (at least mine). Why can come at the end of a conversation like this:

S-Can I have some milk?
Me-Sure, in a minute.
S-I really, really want milk now. Strawberry milk.
Me-I said in a minute...I'm stirring something that I don't want to burn.

a minute goes by....I pour the milk (strawberry) and hand it to her

S-WHY did you give me milk!!! I HATE MILK!!! You're the worst mother ever.

Granted, this conversation happened when she was three, but it's stuck in my head as the best example of the misuse of the word "why" as it pertains to my kids.

But, the land of why isn't just about my girls. It's where I find myself when I start thinking about my life, the world we live in and what I can do about all of the issues that are starting to become important to me. For example:

-Why is our food system so messed up? HFCS in everything, too few companies controlling too many products, too few regulations that make sense. Why is the USDA entrusted with telling America what they should eat?

-Why is the media (advertising in particular) "allowed" to exploit people to sell something? How did the sexualization of girls/young women become so commonplace that so many people don't even notice it? Why is there such a product called "Booty Pop" being sold at BBB ("borrowed that one from another blogger)? Why have my children's attentions been captured so completely by Disney Princesses? It's like crack to them and I hate it.

-Why is marriage so hard sometimes? Why doesn't anyone tell you that it's real work?

-Why is it so freaking hard to lose weight? Seriously?

-Why did I just start running? Why didn't I discover this years ago?

-Why don't insecurities just melt away? Why do I sometimes feel the same way in certain situations as I did 20 years ago? Why do I care?


Hmm, feeling more optimistic about my blogging ability this time. Let's see if any of these topics can inspire me. Let's see if I ever confess I have this blog.