It's sort of a Garden of Eden thing. Being curious about the apple is what got Adam in all that trouble too.
Yeah, lots of religous parralels.
Speaking of which, I doubt they'll ever come right out and say it, but I think there's a good chance the mom is/was Lilith, albeit from the modern feminist perspective that Lilith was a "good witch."
After being cast out of Eden she was forced to live in a cave. In some legends Lilith is a witch who steals children and causes death to infants. In Kabbalah, Lilith hid the divine light of Sephirot.
