Just to play Devil's Advocate here, it does matter a tiny bit what the kid was saying. It could be a passive-aggressive disobedience thing, like if he was muttering, "I hate the way you taste and you make me want to vomit and I'm NOT going to eat you even if Daddy tells me to," or perhaps, "You know what, lettuce? My sister is really stupid and ugly." A four-year-old is more than capable of that sort of defiance.
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