A Two-Year-Old's Stream of Consciousness

Alex has been asking me what Jack talks about as he plays in the living room. I have attempted to transcribe a typical session. Jack often repeats a sentence or phrase and I have not captured all of his spiel, but this does give a flavor. [My notes are in brackets.] Notice that he refers to himself sometimes in the third person and sometimes in the first person:

“I’m going to go over there. The dump truck was parking. Nana, do you have your ear plugs in? It’s going to be loud. Jack has his ear plugs in. I gonna work. I have a jack hammer right there. Jack can push the red button. See this, that’s my red button, can push it. Take out this [Papa’s chain]. I’m going to go way this job. Nother job on the bridge. Jack’s going to go away bridge on the ridge. Finish this job. Go to bridge on the ridge. Bring my work gloves with me. I’m going to take Boy. Taking my stuff over there. Taking the garbage truck over there. [Jacks takes his toys over on the other side of the ottoman.]

"All cleaned up. My pick axe. I am bringing everything to the bridge on the ridge. I am taking a book so the workingman can read it. Taking Snow Day away. Read books. [Jack takes several books over the ottoman, including Mother Goose and Snow Day. ] “You will miss me, Nana. I am going to leave. He has his juice. Going to go away. See you later. Nana, Goodbye. I in construction. He’s going to put on his work gloves, work gloves. Come right back. I’m going to come over here again. I’m going to come over here now.

“Read a book. Better listen to a story. Jack comes over the candlestick. Better listen. [He’s looking at the back of the Mother Goose book which has a picture of a little rabbit jumping over a candlestick.] Workingman’s reading a book. Reading a book. Reading a book. He has stories to read to you. [Jack brings some books over to me.] He’s going to read a book. [Now he has the book titled Animals, Birds, Bees, and Flowers. He turns the pages.] Volcano. Workingman reading a book. Listen to a workingman reading a book. Sit on the ground, Nana. Read a book.

[After I get off the sofa and down on the floor, Jack changes the scenario and starts to play with his little forklift.] "A tree-trimming forklift. A chain goes into it. I need a log to push it. I took the forks off so I can put the chain on. I changed it. I want a log. [He goes over the block box and pulls all the stuffed animals out of the way so he can find a block.] I can use this [a block] for log trimming. [Jacks asks me to put the chain around the block.] Jack puts the chain in the log-trimming forklift so it can put it into a ditch. Into a big ditch.

[Now Jack is running back and forth. He attaches the chain to the forklift.] "Attaches to the wheel so it can drive. It’s pulling it. The log-trimming forklift is pulling the log away. The log-trimming forklift is pulling the log away. The log-trimming truck is going away. [Jack put s the little Playmobil man into the forklift.] He’s in the log-trimming forklift. Right there next to the barn. Where’s the ladder? Near the garbage truck. They need a flatbed truck, carries the ladder. Takes it off and puts it on the roof." [Jack wants Buddy Boss to “snap” onto the ladder, but his feet don’t fit. He asks me to help. I suggest that he just pretend, but Jack indignately refused. “I not pretend.”]