Don't Do As I Do ... Or As I Say

When I was in college I babysat a little boy named Beau who loved the I Spy books. So when my boys were old enough for books, I bought a few, remembering all those times Beau and I cuddled in the rocking chair and poured over I Spy.

I'm not sure what happened in those years since college, but I hate I Spy. Maybe Beau and I didn't 'play' I Spy as much as just look at the detailed photos, but I would rather walk through a spider web or eat a spoonful of cinammon than read I Spy.

However, on many nights, that is what Jake wants to read. Like last night. Jake, Sam and I were reading I Spy and Jake insisted on pointing at every found item with his middle finger. Look, a dust mite ... middle finger point. Look, a grain of sand ... middle finger point.

After awhile the middle finger point started to annoy Sam. "Jake, EVERY time you do that you are saying a bad word. THE bad word!"

"What word is that?" I asked.

"F * * *," Sam spelled out.

"How do you know that word?"

"I heard it from the Cheetah Girls at school." The Cheetah Girls are a group of 9-year-olds who like to dress in animal prints, chase boys and apparently impress them with their salty vocabulary.

I try to look at this as a teaching moment (for Sam, anyway. Jake was too preoccupied identifying microcosms in his book.) so I said, "Let me tell you something. If adults hear you say that word, they will get angry but they will also be disappointed. It is not a funny or clever word. It is used by someone who isn't smart enough to think of something else to say."

And, then, just when I'm about to make my point, I add, "If you are going to say a curse word, that is probably the best one you can say. I mean WORST. That is the WORST one you can say."

Damn it.