A Passover lesson for parents with young children

As the Passover season comes to an end, I wanted to share a great bit of advice I heard from a community seder I covered in 2004. It was held at Wake Forest University and led by Professor Andrew Ettin. Ettin is a gifted speaker with a rich, sonorous voice that I got to know as a freshman in his English class. The idea behind the community seder was two-fold - to give Jewish people away from home a chance to partake in the traditional holiday meal for Passover, as well as to give non-Jews like me a chance to experience Jewish culture.

Ettin spent much of the seder leading the group of about 30 people through a Haggadah, a liturgy about Passover filled with songs and stories. But what I remember most about the evening was some ad hoc comments he made about the importance of education. He urged those with young children to answer any questions their children put forth to them, no matter how tiresome those questions may become. By doing so, parents would help ensure that they would raise inquisitive children with a love for learning.

His remarks came at a fortuitous time in my life as a parent. My son was about three and a half, speaking in full sentences and wanting know about everything big and small. Like most parents, my wife and I were getting bombarded with questions that never seemed to end. I shared Ettin's advice with my wife, and we made a concerted effort to do our best at answering every question instead of dismissing them, as we would have liked to have done, with a "You know, Daddy is really busy now..." And, sure, it got tedious, and most answers were followed with another question, often a simple "How come?" But I think it really paid off. Sean has a wonderfully curious mind and it's a pleasure to be able to educate him through a kind of parent-child reverse Socratic method.

He still asks a lot of questions, but I'm guessing he's about to age out of it somewhat. Of course, that's just in time for the little one to start asking.

PHOTO: Andrew Ettin speaks during the community seder at Wake Forest University in April, 2004. Journal photo by Megan Morr.