Kids Say the Darndest Things

So in the late 90's I worked with a girl who was just out of high school. She was our physician's order tracker. Every morning we would talk before she headed back to her desk. Well, she loved the show South Park. And the mornings after the show would air she'd come in and talk endlessly about how funny the show was. I'm thinking, huh, I gotta see this show. So, one night while channel surfing I come across it and was stunned. Completely shocked. The language was raw to say the very least.



So, the next day my friend walks in and I tell her I saw the show. She's laughing and reciting what was said the night before and I stop her and tell her I thought it was the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Yes, I can be a bit of a prude. I continue by saying there is no way children talk like that. She insists that from the time she was in kindergarten the children in her neighborhood (a nice suburb southwest of Chicago) talked like the kids on the program. I argued with her profusely. I usually let things roll but I insisted there was absolutely no way small children use that language. I didn't even consider using the "4" letter words until 5th grade. And that was mild stuff like crap, sh@! (see I don't even want to spell shit), and every 1975 5th graders favorite, asshole.



Well, my dear karma just bit me right in the a@@. You know what's coming don't you. I didn't. Had no clue.



Zak's teacher Miss M. calls this afternoon to tell me that Zak has been dropping the F-bomb at school. I'm not sure what she said next because my heart skipped a beat and I lost all hearing from the embarrassment I was feeling. Apparently two other boys have also been using the word all over the place. The teacher hasn't heard Zak say it, only the 2 other boys but they are pointing their tiny little fingers right in the direction of
Z A K.



Ok, I would love to act like I had absolutely no idea where my son heard this word. It would be easy to blame the 5th grader next door, Zak's teenage cousins, the music and movies that use profanity for all to hear. But, I'd be kidding myself. I use the word when I am at my worst.



So, I will stand along side my son and we will both have our mouths washed out with soap. Yes, I'm gagging already.



And, you might be wondering why I would even admit to this? Well, it's out there. It happened. It actually makes me feel a little better confessing it so publicly. I blame my catholic up bringing for feeling this way. Maybe if I were running right now, I could run my embarrassment away and spare myself the public humiliation but I'm not. It's hard to jog away from humiliations, it's quicker than a 12 minute pace. UGH! So that's that.