Texting and the single mom

So my son, quite obviously a child of this technology-driven era, likes to text. He can't read or spell anything really, but he likes to text nevertheless.

It works like this: he tells me he wants to text someone, often Uncle JJ. I get the text feature open on the phone and then hand it to him, at which point he proceeds to ask me how to spell out whatever sentence is on his mind while he painstakingly finds every letter on the little keyboard on my phone.

I have a distinct memory of walking around Bed Bath & Beyond doing some shopping with my mom while my son ambled along behind us texting something about alligators to someone.

"How do you spell "alligator'?"

"A"

"OK, then what?"

"L"

"Where's the 'L'?"

"The middle row of letters."

"OK, then what?"

"L"

"Another L?"

"Yes, another L."

"OK, then what?"

You get the picture of how this goes (and how long it takes!)

Well, we were driving in the car the other day when he said he wanted to text Uncle JJ and asked for my phone.

"How do you spell 'wilt'?"

"Wilt?" I was intrigued by this rather sophisticated word choice and curious about what message he was trying to send.

So, naturally, I asked, "What are you trying to say, sweetheart?"

His response: "Are you sad?"

It's so absurd that there are no words. But, being a writer, I'll try...

First, where did "wilt" come from in the first place? For all I know, maybe he meant "whilt" and he was on the verge of composing a Shakespearean ode.

Second, the obvious question: why do you need to spell "wilt/whilt" in order to write completely unrelated words?

"How do you spell 'breathe'?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say, 'I'm going to the store.'"

(Insert your own inane scenario here. No, really, try it. It makes a good game.)

I seriously, seriously wish I had a window into what goes in his brain. And that's becoming the case more and more often as he talks and reasons and asks questions more and more. It's certainly entertaining, if nothing else.