The Mind of a 3 Year Old

How does the mind of a 3 year old work? Last night we had dinner ‘in family’ which we do at least a couple of nights per week and increasingly more often as the kids get older. Vaishali prepared B. coli (my term of art for that foul weed), spaghetti with sauce and a variety of meats. She baked sweet Italian, hot Italian and turkey sausage as well as some turkey cutlet. When dishing-out the dinner, all the girls were required to have spaghetti and B. coli but could have the meat of their choice—most common being the sweet Italian sausage. Jemma was the last to be served meat. “What kind of sausage would you like,” asked the attentive mother? “I want the dessert sausage,” Jemma replied. The carebear clock ticked a couple of seconds, and I realized first what the 3 year old meant: “She means the sweet Italian sausage Waish,” I informed my wife. The little girl figured that if it is called “sweet”, then it must actually be sweet and since desserts are always sweet it is therefore a dessert sausage. Well, why not? We explained to her that it is only called “sweet” because it is not spicy like the “hot” sausage—which is still spicy even when eaten cold. dbp