Never Lose A Holy Curiosity -- Albert Einstein

We have three children, with three different levels of curiosity, it seems.  The youngest is the most curious. He regularly asks questions about everything and really wants the answers. He doesn't just ask to get attention, as some kids do. Most of his questions are way out of my league, and many of them serve to keep me humble because of my educational "gaps." I missed learning a lot of things in school, probably because we moved so much. There are just whole areas of knowledge I was never taught, like geography. So when our youngest asks me where something is in the world, I have to send him to his father or to the computer.

Our oldest is the next level of curiosity. He can go a day or two without asking any educational questions. But he does ask and often. His level of curiosity is more about why things happen(ed) than the way things are made or situated. He wants to know reasons for WWII; he wants to know what made Hitler do what he did. He wonders why so many Muslims are intolerant and violent toward people with differing faiths. He is trying, in his adolescent mind, to figure out human behavior in conjunction with policy and history. His types of questions also cause me to send him running to his father. History was not my thing in school.

Our middle child would have to be the least curious, at least about educational things. She wants to know what current hairstyles look like and what kinds of cool nail treatments and colors are out there. I'm not saying she is shallow, she is just a typical pre-teen girl in America. Sometimes her questions are relational: Why did so-and-so treat me badly when I stuck up for her against the bullies in school last year? And sometimes her questions are artistic: How do you shade this tree trunk so that it looks realistic? She could go weeks without asking anything about the universe or the "what if..." questions so typical of her brothers. That's okay by me. She is a right-brained artist who doesn't really see the world in mathematical equations or in balances of world power, but in colors and shapes and sizes and forms.

To each his own. I love the way each of my kids views the world. It is unique and special and part of what makes them who they are.

Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. I hope that in my own flawed, limited, and very imperfect way, I can continue to encourage my children to imagine, wonder, ask, and ponder the mysteries, complexities, and puzzles of this great universe created by the Almighty.