Thanks for the advice, all. I think you're right, zhian -- he does want a good reason and would definitely prefer to have a conversation about the whys than do what he's asked without question. Which is OK, up to a point, but then it just becomes wrangling and, I suspect, stalling...
FWIW, we ran into this same roadblock with providing explanations for things. We ended up explaining to DS that there are times we would provide an explanation/reason for our rule/answer, but that it was our *choice*, not a requirement. Basically, "I'm happy to provide you an explanation when I can or choose to, but there are times that I can't or simply won't." DS really got out of hand with trying to discuss each and every thing, and we felt that this had the potential to carry over into EVERY aspect - school, extra-curriculars, etc. - and not everyone is going to entertain such things. We wanted to be sure that he also understood that there were/are times and places for discussion/reasoning, but also for compliance without argument...even if he doesn't agree or just plain ol' doesn't like it.
Just a thought.
