Raspberries

We were talking about favorites at the family dinner table, and here’s tonight’s conversation (note: we’re having breakfast for dinner – bacon, eggs, toast, etc.):

Joel is 3 1/2

Joel: “My favorite is apple juice to drink. Mommy, now you say your favorite drink.”
Maggie: “My favorite is chocolate milk.”
Allison: “My favorite food is healthy stuff.” (really, she said that, I’m not lying)
Joel: “Now it’s your turn Daddy, what’s your favorite food?”
Matt: “I really like raspberry preserves.”
Joel: “No! You mean raspberry turds.”
Maggie: (trying to stay straight-faced) “You mean ‘pre-zervz’, right?”
Joel: “No, it’s a turd.” (and he's very serious)
Matt & Maggie: (snicker, snicker)
Maggie: “What is a turd, Joel?” (putting on the investigative reporter hat)
Joel: “It’s something that you eat.”
Maggie: “Oh, where did you have it?”
Joel: “Right here, at this table.”
Maggie: “Is a turd very big?”
Joel: “No, it’s small.”
Maggie: “Is it round?”
Joel: “No, but some are round. I had an oval one. It was yellow. And there are vanilla ones and raspberry and chocolate-vanilla….”

As he continued to list "turd" flavors, we finally figured out that he was talking about the taffy we'd bought from the candy store on the square a couple weeks ago. Not sure how "taffy" became "turd" but I don't presume to ever understand what goes on in the mind of a 3-yr-old.