Three Year Olds + Stories = Misunderstandings

It is a ritual in the Harrington Household to have the traditional "Bedtime Story". Traditional is a relative term... It's not Goldilocks, or Red Riding Hood that puts her to sleep; but rather stories from when Russ and I were little. We take turns telling her tales from our childhood.

This one particular night was Russ's turn. He was recounting the time when he was a toe headed little tot getting a baseball signed by Mark McGwire (true story) I'll share an excerpt:

Russ: Have you ever seen Popeye?
Brecken: (enthralled, but clueless) No.
Russ: Well he was like Popeye. His forearms were HUGE!
Brecken: (silent, wide-eyed amazement)

A few weeks later Brecken decided to recount to me dad's amazing story:

Brecken: One time, when daddy was a little boy, he saw a baseball player that had TEN ARMS!!!!!!
Me: Ten Arms? (I knew that wasn't part of the story)

After mulling it over while trying to think what could have mislead her... it hit me. Russ had said "his forearms were huge!" what Brecken heard: "his Four Arms were huge!".... And then of course she exaggerated (ten did sound cooler than four). Oh! The laughter. I couldn't help myself. It was too cute.

I tried to explain it to her, but I think she's convinced that there's some ten armed freak out there playing baseball... Ah, three year olds. Never a dull moment.