Say what?

In our house, so-called "bad words" are an interesting thing. To the outsider, it might often sound like we've got some kiddos with... ah, liberal language.

"Wahh! Moooo-oomm! She called me the 'B' word! The 'B-I-' word, Mom!"

The "B" being "Big ol' meanie."

"Moooo-oomm! He said the 'S' word to me! He did, Moma. He said the 'S-H-' word! I heard him!"

The "S" being "Shush."

Or take Blessing #3. Several months ago, he was going around hitting stuff with his superhero toy. "Bam! Bam! Bam it!"

I knew what he was saying, but it probably didn't sound that way. Without tainting his innocence in it all, I encouraged him to find another expression, telling him that it sounded a little like he was saying a not-very-nice thing and that we wouldn't want others to think he was talking that way.

More recently, as in yesterday, he dropped his pencil, grinned, and "fussed" about that silly dropped pencil... relaying his feigned frustration with the utterance of the "D" word. The real one.

From his moma's bugged-out eyes, I'm sure it was fairly obvious that what he said was not a good thing. The grin on his face got a little bigger, but now it was tinged with some embarrassment and guilt.

I picked my jaw up from the floor and we had the talk. The nice-boys-don't-want-to-say-that-kind-of-yucky-word-because-it-hurts-Moma's-ears-and-makes-Jesus-sad talk.

He apologized and said he wouldn't say it anymore.

We're driving home from Target tonight, and as we got stopped at yet another traffic light I gave a pirate growl, a semi-frustrated "argh."

From the backseat, he says, "Oh, bro-other..."

There's a bit of time while he reflects on what he's just said. "Mom? Is it okay for me to say that? To say 'oh brother?'"

Just in case it wasn't okay, he whispers out the last words in his teeny-tiniest voice.

"Yes," I say.

"What about 'oh man'? Is it okay for me to say that when we have to stop?"

"Yes," I say with a smile.

He thinks for a few more seconds. "Yup. We have to be able to say those things 'cause sometimes something happens and you start to say something else, but it's that one thing we shouldn't say, so we have to stop and change it into something else, so we say an okay word and don't say that bad one. Right, Moma? That's why God lets us say 'oh man' and 'oh brother.'"

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