Imagining Possibilities

One of Ian's most noticeable characteristics these days is his ability to imagine possibilities. He is not one to take an explanation as truth, he considers all the options himself. For example, today we saw a pair of running shoes in the parking lot of the grocery store:

Ian: "Mommy, why are those shoes there?"

me: "I don't know. I think someone went running at Duke, then changed their shoes and set them on the car, then they forgot to put them in the car and when they drove away the shoes fell off."

Ian: "Or maybe the car door was open while they were driving and the shoes fell out."

Ian: "Or maybe a mad men took those shoes from the person." (Since Ian's stroller was stolen off our porch, the picnic table was stolen from the new dog park down the street, and Doug's office was broken into twice, Ian is familiar with the concept of theft and always imagines the thieves are mad men.)

Ian: "Or maybe they left them on the ground and didn't realize it."

He can go on and on. In this case, I was also guessing, but it applies equally to cases where he asks us for an explanation and there is a right answer. He still comes up with alternatives - far be it from Ian to accept things as true just because we say so! For example:

Ian: "Mommy why is the digger resting and not working?"

me: "Because it's Sunday and the men who drive the digger don't go to work today because they're home with their families."

Ian: "Or maybe they're having a meeting then they'll do work."

Ian: "Or maybe they're still having their coffee."

(or maybe it's Sunday, kid)