Reached a "Passed End"

Sophia likes words a whole lot. I like words, too, so we have a blast with them on most days. However, like me, she seems to feel that words hold special meaning, so she steers clear of words that make her uncomfortable. One such word is "dead."

The concept of death itself doesn't seem to intimidate her at all. It's pretty surprising, actually, how often she will bring up the topic on her own just to chat about it. And when I told her that we were going to get a cat, she said, "Yeah!! We're going to get a kitten, and keep it until she passes and goes to cat heaven!!" Apparently, she had already grasped the concept that people tend to outlive their pets, and she's embraced that. We try not to bring it up in front of Gabriella, though.

Anyway, the funniest part about all this is that she replaces the word "dead" with the word "passed" in all situations, and it can be pretty funny in the moment. One time, when we had turned onto a road with no outlet, she said, "Oh, this road is a passed end." Yes, she really said that. It took me a minute to figure out she wasn't saying "past." Another time, she was pretending that Gabriella could do tricks, and when Gabriella fell over, she said, "Oh look, my kitten's playing passed!"

It's just an interesting aspect about Sophia's respect of words. At least, I assume that's what this is about. I have never told her that we don't use the word, so I don't know why she would have decided it's taboo. It will be interesting to see what other words she decides deserve their own rules.