We were walking into town yesterday, when DorkySon suddenly said “I want to give my green penny to the rusty dogs.”

Eh?

“What did you say?” I asked him.

“The rusty dogs. I want to give my green penny to the rusty dogs.”

…

After several more minutes of questioning, I figured it out.

We were going to Waitrose. At the exit of Waitrose is the big plastic box where you get to choose which of three charities you want to support – and you choose by putting a green, plastic token in the slot of your choice.

Putting a token in the slot is always the highlight of any shopping trip for DorkySon, and he always thinks very carefully about his choice. When we were in last week, I’d told him what the January charities are; a cat shelter, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, and a home for retired greyhounds.

Except I hadn’t said ‘retired greyhounds’… I’d said ‘old dogs.’

And in his awesome little toddler brain – which had obviously been working hard in the intervening period – he’d figured that since old cars get rusty, and old trucks get rusty, old dogs must get rusty too.

He wanted to give his green penny to the rusty dogs. Of course he did. It makes perfect sense.