I had to laugh last week when Yahoo! had a feature article titled: 7 Questions tweens and teens hate for you to ask. I got a good laugh as I read about how irritated kids get when you ask them “How was your day?” and “Why don’t you just tell that kid to leave you alone?”. First, apparently Yahoo! missed the concept that as the parent, I get to ask my kids anything. Maybe I’m mean, but I really don’t care if my questions irritate the kids. There are things I need to know and I’ll do my best to ask in ways that will get me answers, but I don’t care if the kids “like” the questions.

This got me thinking about the questions the kids ask me that I hate. I told them a million times not to ask and just to sit back and enjoy the ride. That doesn’t seem to matter. They still ask. I have three kids and a Kevin, so that means sometimes these dreaded questions get asked in triplicate and often quadruplicate. Let’s take a look as some of my dreaded questions. I think they are universal to all moms, what do you think…

1. What’s for dinner? This has to be the worst, especially when all three of the kids ask. They also seem to have a knack for asking me while I’m making dinner. There is nothing like having 17 things on the stove that need my attention while kids come up, one at a time over a 20 minute period, to ask what I’m cooking. I love our kids, but sometimes it feels like their biggest concern in life is what their next meal will consist of.

2. Where are we going? It seems as though our kids feel the need to have a detailed daily agenda. If we ask them to put shoes on, you can bet the next question is where are we going. I can understand wanting to know what is going on, but they are kids. They have no choice but to go where we take them.

3. Where is my DS, Gameboy, mitt, ball, sock, etc? You get the picture. Apparently, I am supposed to have a crazy sixth sense that tells me where they put their stuff when they leave it laying around. Yes, I often know the answer, but only because the thing they are looking for is laying in the middle of the floor right in front of their faces. Being a kid and looking for something means a 30 second survey of the room. Nothing gets moved or picked up. If you can’t see what you are looking for, it isn’t there.

4. Are we there yet? This is a parenting classic I know. What annoys me most is that they ask it on trips that we have taken 12,384 times. Xavier has spent his entire life driving back and forth between Louisville, KY and Lafayette, IN. He still asks if we are there yet when he knows we aren’t.

5. Can I go to the bathroom? This is a dinner time classic. We rarely make it through a meal without all of our kids asking to get up and go to the bathroom. There are two of them that seem to be greatest affected by this phenomenon. You can guarantee this will happen anytime we are at a restaurant. They don’t think more than five minutes ahead, so as soon as you bring one back and get comfortable, another asks to go. I’ve started just telling them they can wait. Xavier has a habit of asking and then not having to go when you get him to the bathroom. Ugh! Would it be wrong to put Depends on all of them before we leave for the restaurant?

6. Can I have ….? You can fill in the blank. I can remember being so proud that Xavier never asked for things when we were out. Then I realized that was only because he couldn’t talk yet. Now, it is a constant barrage of can I have this, can we get a toy, can I have that. The best part is the answer is always NO. Why do they still ask? Isn’t that the classic definition of insanity? Even better, if one parent says no, the natural response is to ask the other parent.

7. What are we doing today? This brings us back to our detailed daily agenda. I always wonder if my kids really want a detailed list when they ask this question. Do they want to hear about the laundry, grocery trip, home work, vacuuming, cooking, planning, cleaning, etc? The good news is that if I do rattle off my list they begin to scramble by the second or third task.

8. Mom, where are you? This maybe last, but certainly not least! We live in a small five room apartment. It is impossible for me to get lost. This question is most likely to come when I am in the bathroom or trying to get dressed. I know it is a lot to ask to manage my bodily functions in privacy, but I am pretty high maintenance. I especially love this question when it comes five minutes after I tell Xavier I am taking a shower or running to the laundry room. I’m not sure if he didn’t listen or he forgot. I’m sure he didn’t listen because he can remember the craziest, smallest detail he heard on Monster Quest, so I know his memory is good.

I know most of these questions are universal to all parents. I would love to know why the teen and tween questions are worthy of a Yahoo! story, but these questions are just hanging out there forever. Maybe I should call the Disney Channel and ask them to create a PSA with Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers. That might get my kids attention. Until that happens, if they don’t have to be considerate of my feelings about questions I hate, then I don’t have to be considerate of the questions they hate. Besides, I think there is a little bit of vindication in asking them the questions that annoy them most when they ask me the questions that annoy most everyday.