Baffled: Confabs with my young daughters

Kids say funny things. I imagine that, when they are very young, the novelty of speech fuses with their blessedly active imaginations. Words mingle with frames of reference long-forgotten by adults. This, I imagine, is how they candidly tell tales of seeing wild porcupines in the jungle, declare plans to build flying cars, and state that they punch Dad because he's a boy. Whimsical (to adults) stories and announcements complement zingers that are not yet intentional. As they grow older (I i...