A Charlotte Mason Moment:
“It is not advisable to answer children categorically when they want to know the why for every command, but wise parents steer a middle course. They are careful to form habits upon which the routine of life runs easily, and, when the exceptional event requires a new regulation, they may make casual mention of their reasons for having so and so done; or, if this is not convenient and the case is a trying one, they give the children the reason for all obedience – ‘for this is right’. In a word, authority avoids, so far as may be, giving cause of offence.”
(Home Education by Charlotte M. Mason Vol. 3, p. 22)