When a child wants to quit something they once loved, it can bring up fears about perseverance, commitment, and missed opportunities. But stopping can mean many different things—and an experience doesn't have to last forever to have been worthwhile.

We want children to be curious, but when their curiosity appears, it can be surprisingly difficult not to take over. What happens when an ordinary conversation becomes a teaching moment—and our need to make sure children are learning interrupts the learning already underway?