Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I went up overnight to help my son take care of my grandson.  He's recovering from pneumonia, so it's challenging to keep him occupied while not having him run around.  We managed pretty well, except neither of us could get him to take a nap.  I noticed a big leap in his ability to verbalize a story and fantasize while he's playing.  He was playing with his Thomas trains and they had a "fight".  I told him I'd never heard of trains fighting.  He ignored me and I just listened, as he developed an entire drama around the trains.  Of course the company has personified these trains heavily, by giving them names, stories, books, DVDs, and every kind of product tie-in imaginable, a la Disney.  But my grandson's story was his own, and he talked for the trains and narrated all the action.  He is two and four and a half months.  It means he can play by himself and direct his own playing.  Witnessing this development was delightful.  Imagination is so important to intelligence and empathy.  And it is our solace in times of stress or difficulty.  He's really becoming his own person.