One of the local news stations has the slogan of “Hard-Hitting. Late-Breaking. Investigative.” Now, they may have the most up-to-date report on the latest gas station shooting, but they have got nothing on my almost-four-year-old daughter.

NOTHING, I tell you.

It feels like this year has been The Year of the Hard Questions for our family. And when you throw an inquisitive preschooler into the mix, it just gets worse.

So far we’ve had a serious illness and long hospital stay for my father-in-law, a divorce in the family, and the death of a friend. On top of that, we changed churches and we almost moved to another city. (As in, we met with a real estate agent and started researching rentals in the new town.)

Not to mention, the very confusing nature of two birthday parties held within about a month of a non-birthday-related Barbie party and a Blessings Unlimited party!

If you’ve ever met a small child, I’m sure you can imagine how many questions have come with all these changes. (Millions. MILLIONS of questions.)

Hard questions. Questions at inappropriate times. Repeated questions. And did I mention HARD questions?

*sigh*

I’m trying really hard to listen to what she’s asking and give her straight-forward, age-appropriate explanations. Without losing my patience. Or screwing her up for life. Easier said than done!

But though the incessant questioning and the frustrating confusion (on both our parts, honestly) is driving me crazy these days, I’m so thankful that she is asking me her hard questions.

I know that someday soon, my sweet, open daughter will have more options for finding answers. She could choose to turn to her friends, her teachers, the Internet and basically anyone except her dad and me. Not that I haven’t been known to poll my friends or consult Dr. Google. It’s part of growing up and becoming an independent (though perhaps too dependent on the Google) individual. But as long as she’s willing to come to me first, I want to be here to answer every one of my daughter’s questions, big and small, easy and difficult, deep and not-so-deep.

Even when it involves the never-ending debate of which Sesame Street character she should lasso when we visit Sesame Place later this month.

I’m not even making that up.

Have you had to answer any hard questions lately?