The mind of a 7 year old

Yesterday we were driving down the road and Emily started rambling on about fences. I could not follow what she was talking about at all and asked her to clarify and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Back up … what fences are you talking about? The ones along the road? The ones around a yard? Where are these fences?

Emily: I don’t know. They are everywhere.

Me: But you are talking about a specific fence. Where is it?

Emily: I’m not talking about one fence. I’m talking about all of them. They are in the ground.

Me: Okay, I get that. But that doesn’t narrow it down for me. What do the fences look like?

Emily: (rather frustrated with me at this point) They have lines in them and things like socks can go through them. There is one at my school.

Me: Do the lines look like Xs?
(and socks?!? Seriously, how is this a clue?)

Emily: No, Mom! They look like LINES! STRAIGHT LINES?!?! All beside each other.

Me: I’ve seen fences that are made up of lines and sometimes people put white, Styrofoam cups in them to spell out words. Is that what you mean by putting things through them?

Emily: No, those are Xs. I said these fences have straight lines. Plus these are in the ground.

Me: But aren’t all fences in the ground?

Emily: No, the ones I am talking about lay down on the ground. Like they are flat on the ground.

*long pause*

Me: Emily, do you mean grates that water runs down and the straight lines keep things like big sticks and leaves from getting stuck?

Emily: YES!! Those type of fences.

*MUCH CHEERING ENSUES*

Me: Okay, those aren’t fences, honey. They are called grates. What is it that you wanted to tell me about grates?

Emily: Oh I don’t remember anymore.

And that is when my head exploded.