Notes on a conversation ...

A brief conversation between myself and Jake, as I picked him up off the playground at preschool the other day:

Jake: Daddy, can you spank Lawson?
Me: What?
Jake: Can you spank Lawson?
Me: Why would I spank Lawson?
Jake: He hit me.
Me: Well, we don't spank people, Jake. Secondly, he's not my son and thirdly, we don't hit people to make them stop hitting.
Jake: (After a long moment's thought.) Can Mommy spank Lawson?