words.

for the past awhile now, I have been becoming increasingly more aware, and disgusted by, song lyrics on the radio. I lecture c all the time about being more cognizant of the words sung on the radio, because even though they may not understand what is being said, what is being said is being heard by little ears... and we all know that words little ears hear eventually spill out of little mouths.

now I'm not saying that I don't enjoy aforementioned songs... there are more than a few that have quite catchy lyrics and upbeat tempos. but, I have been witness to elementary kids singing said songs, and I gotta tell ya, it ain't cute. at all. when a 5 year old is singing about hoes and getting each other between the sheets and eating cupcakes out of someone's body parts, it takes every ounce of my moral fiber not to spontaneously combust and break out into zen-induced rounds of 'kumbaya.' I kid you not.

which brings us to today.

after school, I dropped the Volvo off to get a well deserved oil change. I came home, thinking that she would be done in a few hours, only to be pleasantly surprised by the call telling me to come fetch her, just as c pulled into the driveway from work. so, the boy child and I hopped into the Honda, greeting c and the girls. on our way to the dealership, we decided that we were going to go out to dinner, finally deciding on the co-op. after paying for my car, I met c and the kids at the 'op, we ordered our food, meandered around for a hot second, before sitting down to to wait for our scrumptious delicacies.

as we were talking and laughing, the power went out. it was still light out, and the new café annex is surrounded by windows, so it was still very bright... and, we noticed that folks were still being checked out... generator, perhaps? whatever was going on, our order was finally finished, and we began chowing down. about a third of the way into our meal, everyone was abruptly ushered out of the store. because there was no running water (I think is what she said), we had to leave. of course I understood this, but it was how we were all being spoken to that kind of rubbed us the wrong way. so, we gathered up our partially eaten food, got the kids bundled up, cleaned up our area, and made our way out to our cars, nay an apology or any type of remorse... I mean, we spent quite a bit on that meal, and, even though it was necessary for us to leave, we were still customers who could have been sent out on a kinder note.

 

when we finally got home, we all came inside, and the usual proceedings, well, proceeded... the kids took off their shoes and hung their coats up, I reheated our meals and got us all beverages, and c let the dogs outside. as the food became ready, I corralled the kids to the table, and c let the dogs inside. apparently, one of the pooches ran past rhys, and brushed his side... I heard him mutter, "freakin' dog!" and gave c the tilted head 'did-he-just-say-what-I-think-he-said?' look. she asked what I was talking about.

me: did you just hear what he said?

c: no, what did he say?

me: (whispering) he said the word, 'freakin''...

c: where did he hear that?

me: ...

 

c called the boy child over to her and asked him what he just said about the dog. he played the 'I don't remember game' and she told him that he had better think a little harder... to which, he still played 'I'm drawing a blank.' cue mama intervenes... I asked him once what he said... and he told me that he said a bad word. so, I asked him where he heard that word. he clammed up. so I asked him again. nothing. I told him that I was going to ask him one. more. time. where he heard that word and that I expected an answer... and then he blurted it out... "mommy. I heard mommy say that word." it was like slow motion... I turned to look at c, who turned her face to stifle her laugh. this is not the first time that this has happened. the girls are purveyors of a certain phrase that c is quite fond of. and the thing is, they all use it in the absolute correct context. we tell them that it isn't nice to say, but don't fuel it with attention... and, it works. until the next time they say it.

 

anywho... after rhys ratted c out, he looked at us, and said, "i'll just send myself to my room now." we brought him back to eat his dinner, which, he spent the entire time coming up with ways to make amends. his list consisted of laundry and vacuuming. I'm no fool; I took him up on his offer!

 

now, before it gets too late, I'm going to pipe 24 hours of kumbaya into the kids' bedrooms...