Kids.......And All Those Questions

[Old Moparz]

My next door neighbor's kid is one of those kids that asks one question after another. He's 10 years old, very smart for his age, but just has millions of questions. (Drives his own dad nuts, lol.) Now I know kids ask a lot of questions since I have a kid myself, & I answer 99% of them because I am very patient. Besides, I used to be a kid at one time many, many, years ago, & know I was a pain in the ass asking things. (Now I'm just a pain in the ass.) So whether the questions the neighbor's kid asks actually make sense or not is another story, but he did ask one that was just plain dumb & I couldn't take it anymore. 

(Picture this scene.........last fall, me on the ladder & cleaning out leaves from the gutter while the neighbor's boy is standing on the ground beside the ladder looking up.)

Neighbor's boy:  "What are you doing Bob?"

Me:  "I'm cleaning out the gutters."

Neighbor's boy:  "What's in the gutters?"

Me:  "Leaves."

Neighbor's boy:  "How'd they get in there?"

Me:  "See all those trees?"

Neighbor's boy:  "Yeah."

Me:  "What was on the trees?"

Neighbor's boy:  "Leaves."

Me:  "What happens to the trees in the fall every year?"

Neighbor's boy:  "Oh............But why are you all the way up there?"

Me:  "Because this is where the gutters are."

Neighbor's boy:  "But why are they so high up?"

Me : "Because this is where the roof is & the gutters are attached at the edge of the roof."

Neighbor's boy:  "Yeah, but I mean why does the roof have to be so high up?"

Me:  "Because when I had it in the basement it didn't work & everything in the house got wet."

This is when he stopped asking things & went home.   

[Johnny SixPack]

A weekend at Bob's Place. 

[Shakey]

Can I ask a question?   

What mad you think of something like that happened last fall and propmted you to post about it here in January?   

[mikepmcs]

And why does a 10 year old call you Bob? What ever happened to Mr this or Mrs that, or sir/maam.  That to me is a bigger problem with kids today, no respect for their elders.
I'm 40 and I still call people older than me Mr or Mrs followed by their last name.

my.02

on another note, i think it's pretty common for a lill kid to ask alot of questions, at least you know he isn't afraid to talk to people and will most likely be socially capable.

I always thought this was a funny part in the movie Uncle Buck.

Miles: Where do you live?
Buck: In the city.
Miles: You have a house?
Buck: Apartment.
Miles: Own or rent?
Buck: Rent.
Miles: What do you do for a living?
Buck: Lots of things.
Miles: Where's your office?
Buck: I don't have one.
Miles: How come?
Buck: I don't need one.
Miles: Where's your wife?
Buck: Don't have one.
Miles: How come?
Buck: It's a long story.
Miles: You have kids?
Buck: No I don't.
Miles: How come?
Buck: It's an even longer story.
Miles: Are you my Dad's brother?
Buck: What's your record for consecutive questions asked?
Miles: 38.
Buck: I'm your Dad's brother alright.
Miles: You have much more hair in your nose than my Dad.
Buck: How nice of you to notice.
Miles: I'm a kid - that's my job.

[Old Moparz]

Can I ask a question?   

What mad you think of something like that happened last fall and propmted you to post about it here in January?   

Sure you can ask.

I was on another forum & someone started a thread entitled "Dumb Questions You Get Asked" & thought of the neighbor's kid.

I think I might have another question I can post over there now. 

And why does a 10 year old call you Bob? What ever happened to Mr this or Mrs that, or sir/maam.  That to me is a bigger problem with kids today, no respect for their elders.
I'm 40 and I still call people older than me Mr or Mrs followed by their last name.

my.02

on another note, i think it's pretty common for a lill kid to ask alot of questions, at least you know he isn't afraid to talk to people and will most likely be socially capable.

There's no disrespect on his part at all, I had told him a long time ago that "Bob" is fine with me. I've never been one to insist on anyone using "Mr" & don't get upset over it. As for being outspoken, that's an understatement, LOL. He's never had a problem with being shy at all, & is probably one of the friendliest kids I've met. His mother & father are good people & have become friends with us since they've lived next door. Even they both know he's always been full of questions & sometimes go nuts from it.

Once, when he was about 7 or 8 years old & after being asked a number of questions while doing something, avoided answering him & asked him why he had so many questions. His answer was almost the same as the Uncle Buck one. He said "I don't know, it's just something I have to do." 

[Shakey]

My oldest Daughter is about to turn three, so I am no stranger to questions at this point in time.

I do find that we end up going in circles though.   

[PocketThunder]

Can I ask a question?   

What mad you think of something like that happened last fall and propmted you to post about it here in January?   

Sure you can ask.

I was on another forum & someone started a thread entitled "Dumb Questions You Get Asked" & thought of the neighbor's kid.

I think I might have another question I can post over there now. 

                   

[Charger_Fan]

I used to have a neighbor kid like that, I called him "the interrogator".
That friggin' kid wore me out, it got to the point where I'd intentionally leave my garage door shut & locked, so I wasn't constantly barraged by questions. My own kids went through their question spells, but they never got as bad as the interrogator.

I can't even remember his real name.

[d72hemi]

My daughter will be 5 come May. She has always had questions, but I always answer them to the fullest of my ability, going into details, kind of answering the "next" set of questions before she can ask. It surprises even me how mush she retains. About a month after she had asked about a microwave tower, I was giving a friend a ride home from work (his car was being worked on), as we passed by the tower, my daughter explained to him what it was and how it worked. You should of seen the look on his face as he told me, "I did not even know all that"! Kids are much smarter than most give them credit for. Now if I can get her to stop finding new ways to "help" the cat. Last week she put lotion on the cat, because the cats skin should also be dry do to the winter weather.    still funny as hell though.

Ian

[ck1]

Just buck up and get some LEAFGAURD Gutters.....................................

[Brock Samson]

I live across the street from two schools,.. one is a grammer school with kids from about 6-12 years old the other is a high school..
in anycase,.. over the years i have noticed that consistantly year after year, some of the younger girls scream at recess, they some times have compititions to out scream each other, but there is definatly a segment of the female students that do this screaming thing...




(ok let your smart ass comments rain down upon me..    )

[Old Moparz]

Just buck up and get some LEAFGAURD Gutters.....................................

I try to talk people out of getting these things, so I'd never use them myself. Not only do you still have to clean the gutters, but now you have to take the damn guards off, clean the small muck that clings to them, & then put them back on the gutter. I'd rather just reach in & pull leaves out by hand then deal with flimsy attachments. Other than cutting down acres of trees, I don't see an easier way to keep the gutters clean.

Now that I told the neighbor's kid all about gutters & why they are where they are, I don't think I'll be harrassed while cleaning them. Maybe I can pay him to go up & clean them for me, or I could put up an electric fence to keep the kid away.   

There's lots & lots of trees by the way. 

[Orange_Crush]

Hey Bob...how in the hell long have you been working on that garage?!?!?  I thought I remembered you posting pics of yourself working on that thing THREE YEARS AGO!!

[Old Moparz]

Hey Bob...how in the hell long have you been working on that garage?!?!?  I thought I remembered you posting pics of yourself working on that thing THREE YEARS AGO!!

That pic was from 1997, I finished about a year later. I don't have anything recent on the computer at work.

Here's one after it was done.

[Brock Samson]

that's some work there... 

[ck1]

Just buck up and get some LEAFGAURD Gutters.....................................

I try to talk people out of getting these things, so I'd never use them myself. Not only do you still have to clean the gutters, but now you have to take the damn guards off, clean the small muck that clings to them, & then put them back on the gutter. I'd rather just reach in & pull leaves out by hand then deal with flimsy attachments. Other than cutting down acres of trees, I don't see an easier way to keep the gutters clean.

Now that I told the neighbor's kid all about gutters & why they are where they are, I don't think I'll be harrassed while cleaning them. Maybe I can pay him to go up & clean them for me, or I could put up an electric fence to keep the kid away.   

There's lots & lots of trees by the way. 

I got them on my house and they work fine, never had to clean them yet, and if the do have anyproblem the company will come out and clean them for free for life, been on all winter long and they seems to work great, there all one peace, so its not a cover over a existing gutter.............I take some pictures when I can, I live in the woods to with fir needles and alder leaves, but my health, knee, back wont allow me to clean mine by hand anymore..............

[Lord Warlock]

Just buck up and get some LEAFGAURD Gutters.....................................

Do you realize just how much those damn gutters cost?  I priced a set to replace my existing gutters, and it was gonna cost 3000.00.  I think i'll keep climbing up and clearing them out by hand. 

Yes small kids can be a pain asking questions, its one thing if its your kids doing the questioning, but when the neighbor kids do it, its just frustrating you can't tell em to shut up.  After years of hoping someone would move in with daughters so our kids would have friends to play with, our newest neighbor has two daughters, twins in fact, but about 4 years younger than our youngest...and they stalk her....waiting outside, tearing up our landscaping hoping our kid will go outside and "play".  Having two identical interrogators asking constant questions while working on the car in the garage is a pain.  I'm glad the two real project cars are behind a locked gate and in the backyard. 

[Shakey]

....our newest neighbor has two daughters, twins in fact, but about 4 years younger than our youngest...and they stalk her....waiting outside, tearing up our landscaping hoping our kid will go outside and "play".  Having two identical interrogators asking constant questions while working on the car in the garage is a pain.... 

I'm picturing those twin girls from the Simpson's that are dressed in purple and talk in unison.   

[Old Moparz]

Have to get a fence. 

[dkn1997]

that reminds me of "my cousin vinney" when he's questioning the slow witted guy and he's saying what is that dusty dirty thing on your window, "screens" and what are those big things in front of the windows "trees" and what are those little things on the trees "leaves" it's ok, just shout 'em out when you know 'em. 

gotta second the "mr" thing too.  I always tell my kids to call adults mr and mrs.  even if they use the first name, like "mrs susan" and such.  I view it as respect.  If I bump into and old teacher, a buddy's parents, I still call them mr and mrs, and i am 37 now!!

but to each his own, it's all good.  What i don't like is when I tell my kids to use mr or mrs and the neighbor in quesiton says, "no, that's ok, I don't mind"  to which I reply.  "thanks, but it's really not ok, so they are calling you mr and that's all there is to it"