Rubberband

Yesterday I was cleaning up the house when Justin walks up to me with a broken rubber band in his hand and a quizzical look. "Mom. Can a rubber band toke?"

Hmm...what does that mean? "I'm sorry baby...what?"

"Can a rubber band toke?" He answers with a bit of frustration.

Ok..let's think this through. He has a broken rubber band. "Is the rubber band broke?? Yes honey."

"No!" He stamps his foot. "Can a rubber band toke you?!"

"Can a rubber band poke you?"

This is about the time he decides he is pretty upset with me but can't give up because he NEEDS an answer! So he puts his hands up to his neck and squeezes, making a gagging sound with his tongue sticking out. "Can a rubber band toke you!? Toke! Toke!"

Ahh. I get it now. "Can a rubber band choke you? Yes. You can choke on a rubber band if you try to swallow it. So throw that away so CC doesn't get it."

Now he runs off crying and coughing. At first I just thought he was mad because I made him throw away the rubber band but he kept forcing himself to cough and was obviously more than upset...he was scared.

So I went to comfort him. "Justin, what's the matter."

Apparently he was putting the rubber band in between his teeth when it broke and swallowed a small piece of it. He thought he was going to choke! It took me a good 10 minutes for me to get him to believe that he was going to be fine.