Multiple choice

Biscuit has favorites among his toys. So when he brings two toys to you and says, "Which one do you want, Mom?" I always go for the one that I know is Biscuit's favorite.

That might sound like a mean thing to do, but actually, I've used those situations to teach him to rephrase his question.

The other day, he brought a reddish-brown horse and a gray horse over to me. "Mom, which horse do you want to play with?" Biscuit asked.

"Um ..." I said, looking back and forth between them. "I think I'll take the red one."

Biscuit got a concerned look on his face and said, "But Mom, I wanted the red one."

"You asked me which horse I wanted, and I want the red one," I said.

"Oh," Biscuit said as he looked at the floor. His voice got deeper and he said, "Okay, Mom."

"Well, you know," I said. "You can ask the question in a different way. You can say, 'Mom, I want to play with the red horse. Do you want the gray one?' or you could say, 'Mom, I'm going to play with the red horse, would you like to pick one of the others?'"

"Oh yeah, Mom," Biscuit said. "You told me that one time before." I've actually told him more than one time before.

"So do you have a question for me?" I asked.

"Yep," Biscuit said. "Mom, may you like to play with this gray horse? I'm going to play with the red one."

"Yes, I may," I said. I know the grammar isn't right, but it sounded so funny, I had to go with it.