As parents, we try to shelter our little ones from the ugliness of the world by making sure we don't share what's on the news, we don't expose them to the hardships that we might be personally experiencing, and we filter what we say by leaving out the colorful adjectives and adverbs that aid in decorating our vocabulary.
Did I say, "we"?
Yeah.
I've found that I have a seven year old that might be a little more "worldly" than others.
I teach her about some of the world's problems (past, present, and future) so she can decide for herself how to help the world...like Mother Teresa. Or dominate it...like Hitler.
I do my best to keep her from knowing what hard times I have going on around me. I don't tell her when I might only have $20 to my name...except for that one time. I couldn't help it! I was super stressed about it. But usually she doesn't know because I don't want her to scold me about it. That's really embarrassing.
And then there's the foul language that I seriously don't want her to hear. I appreciate the networks on TV that have good shows with censored language. I want her to watch something that might be interesting but I don't need her hearing the bad words that might be said. However, when the words get "bleeped", she's smart enough to fill in her own choice of words. That would be MY doing, thank you very much.
This morning's example:
Farrah: Mom!! There's a spider on the wall!
Me: Oh, that Bastard! I thought he was living under the garbage can. Ugh! He escaped.
(She leaves and then comes back)
Farrah: Hey! Bastard is gone...I can't see him.
Me: What did you just say? Did you just say, "Bastard"?
Farrah: Yeah, that's what you named him, right?
One ticket to hell, please! Oh, and might as well get me an extra because my daughter wants to follow me wherever I go!
