I can totally see the kid telling his mom he wanted to say this and she took him to say it without feeding him the words like a puppet, but it was just awkward the way she kept on encouraging him to clarify what he wanted to say, and made it look like the kid was nothing but a puppet.
Bachman's blank stares in the face of actual discussion is always amusing, though I don't see what she could have said here being put on the spot that would have helped much.