Why, why, why do children keep asking questions?

PARENTS should instinctively know what not to say to their children, but among the things that kids should never say to their parents include ‘in a minute’, ‘I’m hungry’ and ‘why?’, a survey has found.

In a poll of 3,000 families, the most annoying things children can say to their parents ranged from “I’m bored” to “you never let me do anything”.

Half of the parents interviewed said the words “I’m bored” unsettled them the most, as this utterance was often followed by incessant whingeing.

The next most feared expression was “why?” which 37% of parents didn’t want to hear because it usually led to stubborn outbursts and also to general foot stamping.

“Children are naturally curious, and often their retorts aren’t because they are naughty, but because they want to push the boundaries to see what they can get away with,” said Emma Elsworthy of MumPoll.com, a market research website behind the survey.

One in five children will say “he or she hit me”, while 18% will frequently use the words “he or she started it”.

Meanwhile “it’s not fair!” was dreaded by 30% of parents.

“Are we nearly there yet?” were words that assailed many parents from as soon as 10 minutes into car journeys.

“There is no doubt that raising children is a challenge from day one, but any parent who can put up with being on the receiving end of up to 20 questions or retorts a day without snapping can afford to give themselves a good pat on the back,” according to Ms Elsworthy.