Why?

It's the question "du jour" around here. But what's worse, is that the why generally follows a reprimand of some sort.

Example:

Me: Hannah, don't put that in your mouth, you'll chip a tooth.
H: Why?

Uh...did I NOT give a reason why in my DO NOT? I swear, my child only hears the first part of anything. No matter what I say, and ANY reason given to go along will receive a why. Now, I understand that this is the age of questions...but I was expecting things like, "why is the sky blue?", "why do people die?", etc. Not just the WHY. I don't know the reason I expected this.

And of course, Bugaboo has picked up on this - except he's more selective in his listening. Our conversations go more like this:

Me: Scotty, don't put the paperclip in the outlet.
S: wha?
Me: Bring me the paper clip, Bug.
S: Wha?
Me: Son, bring that here before you electrocute yourself!
S: WHA????
Me: Do you HEAR me? Hello????

All this time, he's standing at the outlet with the devilish look on his face (it's TOO cute, you know) and he's DARING me to come and get that darned paperclip....

(now, before you get all "what are you thinking - just get the clip away from him!" on me, Bug has NOT actually done this (yet, though I fear it's only a short time in coming - he tried to FLY off the changing table yesterday; thank GOD daddy was there, although unprepared!). This is just an example of the selective listening. If I even WHISPER The Wiggles, he hears me from two rooms away.

The odds of more wise and less whys are very slim right now, and I need a much needed break...any ideas????