Earlier today, my son was carrying around a tub of popcorn as a snack. He was happily singing about his popcorn, a little song he made up himself, and then showed it to me, "Look! I have popcorn!" I nodded and said, "Yes, you do!" He asked, "Can I eat it?" I said, "Yeah, it's good." He walked away happily singing "Popcorn! Popcorn! Popcorn!" but then he stopped, turned to me, and asked, "What is this again?" I was kind of surprised! I said, "It's popcorn! You were just singing about it!" He laughed and said, "Oh yeah! Popcorn!" and off he went singing his popcorn song. Did he genuinely forget the word popcorn after repeating it a dozen times, or was he trying to engage me in conversation or something? It kind of freaked me out to be honest. Is this normal?
Yes. Normal.
And this is when you get to have fun messing with them.
"What is this again, Mom?"
"It's noodles. Lots of NOODLES!"
(Bet he says "no it's not! It's POPCORN!!!!")
If he keeps doing it, throw the question back at him. If he asks "What is this?" say "You tell me what it is" or "I don't remember, what is it?"
My guess is he was just trying to get your attention and when he asked what it was, you gave him what he was looking for. Maybe when he started singing your attention went away from him and he wanted it back, so he used what worked the last time...
I agree dancin' mama. He wants attention for sure. Which is typical of young children and sometimes older. Patty W. said it best however, throw it back!
Kids always find the silliest ways to engage us. Sometimes they call your name, and then have to make up a reason they were calling you, because they honestly didn't want anything. I have 4 babies, ranging from 10 to 2....I know, I know. They are all different, and have all made me wonder a time or two :)
Unless he is exhibiting behaviors that are clear red flags in speech and comprehension, I would say he was just being cute. Good moms worry about everything, and all the time. Popcorn!
Totally normal. Another thought besides those already expressed is that he may have been fishing for synonyms or adjectives that you might add to popcorn. When my daughter does this I usually expound on the word or give the object the alternate names. Like its popcorn with butter and salt on it. Did you know that some popcorn has chocolate or carmel on it. Doesn't that sound yummy?! Or that's sand or dirt or soil. That sort of thing. So he's looking to expand his language and learn about his world and where these objects fit in it.
normal & annoying! I have 2 3yo boys in my daycare, & every single freakin' meal....I hear, "is this milk from a cow?" & "did you get it at The WalMart?" .....just shoot me now. :)
(sigh) & that stupid WalMart question....yep, I hear it with every single freakin' food item, toy, craft supply. We live in a small town....can you tell? :)
Sure it's normal! Haven't you ever forgotten a word before? I do it quite often....it'll be right on the tip of my tongue too...even if I just used it or read it!
Even worse is when you write a word and it just DOESN'T look right, even though it is. I hate that!
I would not worry. He may have really forgotten! He may be singing "popcorn, popcorn, popcorn" in an effort to try and remember it. I have a lousy memory so that wouldn't bother me.
Don't get freaked. This is completely Normal. He was just caught up in his wonderful world, as only a child can do. This is just where he is and needs to be. As adults we lost that wonder, that zest, as adults we're far from this special world and so we think with our adult minds and see our child as being in the same placement we're in, but they are not. They're here with us but not mentally, menatlly they live in a whole different place, a good place.
At 4, they still see the world as an extension of themselves. There is no outside world and inside world for a young child, this doesn't begin until about the age of 7.
Have Fun with him. He was having fun, he was having a good ol time. He was into it, the song and the popcorn and the walking and the whole thing of it was all a part of him, so much so that its was taking him away. He stopped when he noticed that it was taking him, instead of him taking it. He was just regrouping himself, centering himself that's all. Sounds pretty Sound to me, sounds intelligent.
He sounds like a delight!
This used to drive me nuts to all ends. Now I just respond with either "I don't know" or "you tell me" and that takes care of it. The repetitivness of parenthood is not something I expected. Yikes!!
Doesn't strike me as odd.
Although, my first thought was how, sometimes, when you say a word over and over and over and over again.. after a while, a perfectly normal word doesn't sound normal anymore. It can just sound like a jumble of weird syllables bunched together.
Like, say.... pumpernickel. Say that slowly like 6 times...
pump er nick el
pum per ni ckel
pump ern ick el
pump er nick el
pump ern ick el
pum per nick el
See how you can start focusing on the individual syllables and forget what you are even saying?
LOL
You don't give his age but I'm thinking he's quite young. I've found that kids play the "what's this" game with us. When they are learning to talk we ask them "what's this, what's the name of this," etc. over and over and then they do the same with us.
