Parenting Tip: Never Stop at “I Don’t Know"

The worst thing that a parent can ever do to a child mentally is when the kid ask him a question that's a legitimate question and the parent says, "I don't know." That to the child is like mental abuse. You don't realize it. Why? Because to that little kid, you're everything. You're old. Even if you're 25 years old parent, how could you not know? How could you not know if there was ever dinosaurs, Ima? How could you not know where Noah's Ark was buried? How could you not know how tall Moshiach ben was? How could you not know? How could you not know? A kid ask their parents a legitimate question, the worst thing that a parent can say is, "I don't know." Now, of course you're not going to know everything. So, what do you do? "I don't know, but I'll find out for you. Let me go look for it." Why? Cuz if you leave the kid with "I don't know", then that kid starts thinking, "Wait, if they don't know and they're already old, then there's a problem. No one knows. Cuz if they assume that the parent is the smartest person in the world, they assume that the parent is supposed to know everything. So, if you don't know and no one knows, this already creates an internal doubt inside that kid, which if it grows further, will have will develop into into a safek, into a doubt in believing in God. How could you not know? So, you're not expected to know everything. I will ask questions in a moment. You're not expected to know everything, but you are expected to be a source of information for your kid where you could find out. We could find out. I don't know the answer to this, but we could ask the rabbi, we could ask the teacher, we could look at a book, we could watch a video. Baruch Hashem, there's a wealth of information out there. Don't leave the kid or yourself with a "I don't know." If you really want to know the answer, you'll find the