Son: Mom, right now I am a roadrunner crocodile.
Mom: Oh, a bottlenose roadrunner crocodile?
Son: Yes. (Opens mouth, makes strange huffing noise while scrunching nose.) Let me tell you something.
Mom: Okay?
Son: Did you know that roadrunner crocodiles have poison?
Mom: No, I did not.
Son: Yes, they are venomous.
Mom: Oh. Is that why you did that with your nose?
Son: Yes, watch out, that was me shooting out my venom.
Mom: Oh.
Son: Let me tell you something. Do you know how roadrunner crocodiles produce their venom?
Mom: No, I don’t.
Son: In the nose! Actually in a special part of their nose. It is called a…cubis.
Mom: A cubis?
Son: Yes.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Tags: animals, older son, storytelling, weird names
I wonder if this is just how 5 yr old brains work.
My daughter told a totally different story for my educational benefit, but explained it almost the same way.
D: Did you know that winter fairies became extinct because of polar bears?
Me: I did not.
D: Polar bears did not like winter fairies because they were very irritating to their flesh, eyes, and noses. So the polar bears made them extinct.
Me: How did they do that?
D: Through a beseenol.
Me: What’s that?
D: Well, it’s hard to explain, but they made their food supply become disappeared.
Me: Oh, that’s too bad.
D: Not really. Winter fairies were kind of annoying.
What is fascinating is the use of some vocabulary really well, the impulse to coin a new phrase and define it. And it’s all wrapped in a purely imaginary framework that makes complete sense to them.
For me, this kind of thing is one of the best parts of being a parent. I am just…stupefied at the way they come up with this stuff.
“Beseenol” and “cubis.” Another interesting thing is that they are both words that follow the rules of what can be an English word. It’s just that they’re not actually words.
I also like the last line a lot. It cracked me up. I imagine winter fairies were kind of annoying.