(who, by the way is still struggling with "potty-training" even though her parents tell her that she is a "big girl" and that's what "big girls" do):
J: Where's Brandy? (our 8-month-old puppy)
Me: Outside with Grampy
J: Why?
Me: She had to go potty.
J: She goes potty OUTSIDE??
Me: Yes
J:: Where IS her potty outside?
Me: She just goes outside on the grass, just like your dog, Shakespeare.
J:: But Shakespeare is a BOY!
Me: Yes, and Brandy is a girl, but they are both dogs.
J: OH! She's still a puppy ... she's not a BIG GIRL yet?
Me: Well, she's still a puppy, but even when she grows up she'll go outside.
J: NO! BIG GIRLS go on the POTTY!
Me: (finally understanding the confusion) No, honey. Big-girl dogs, like big-boy dogs always go outside .... just people go on the potty inside when they get to be big girls and boys.
J: Oh. Brandy will go outside even when she's a big girl. Just like Shakespeare, because she's a DOG.
(this last was not a question, more of an epiphanny statement) I just smiled, amazed at the thought processes of children's minds - and the things we "assume" they should understand.