Saturday, November 22, 2008

B is for boogers...and beer

The boys and I went to my Grandpa's house for dinner tonight and it was easy to see how much he enjoyed them. He said to me, "This is what its all about, right here. Not every person gets to live long enough to see their great-grandchildren play."

Just after he said that, I seized the opportunity to sit back and watch while the boys wrestled with my cousin. I saw the happy little smiles on their faces as they jumped and rolled. Sure, it was a bit on the wild and noisy side, but they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, giggling and whooping and running in circles. The energy they had was exhausting, but everyone watching them was laughing and smiling, too.

I had the rare opportunity to see them as an outsider might - someone who knows how smart and funny and cute they are but who isn't so deep in the quicksand of it all so as to miss the absolute...joy they are, too.

So when the conversation on the way home went AGAIN to sounding out words that start with particular letters (a very common game for us since Nick's started preschool), I didn't tell Nick it was quiet time. (The game Mommy tries to get them to play when they're already in PJs and we're in the car after 8 p.m.)

"Mom! What words start with T?" T was the letter of the week last week. I know he knows words that start with T off the top of his head, but I played along.

"Uh, truck?"

"Yep! You're right. What else, Momma?"

"Um, tent?"

"Yep! Good job Mom! My turn!"

"Let's do B!" I exclaimed. B was the letter of the week two or three weeks ago. I thought I'd be really testing him. "What words start with B?"

"Hmmm...boogers start with B."

"Uh, yeah, honey. Boogers start with B. What else?"

"Oh, I know!!! BEER! Beer starts with B, Mommy!"

I could hear his smile in the dark, proud that he came up with two B words so quickly, and thoughts of future parent-teacher conferences immediately sprang to mind. But instead of redirecting his attention to a more kid-friendly word that started with B, I just smiled back and said, "Yes, honey...yes, it does."

6 comments:

Becca said...

Kids really say kinda funny things sometimes!

J Money said...

The word BEER is not that bad, I can think of alot of other words that start with the letter B that a kid could say that could cause a brief moment of shame if mentioned at the right/wrong time!!!!

LOL!!!!!

Vodka Mom said...

omg I love that! We were working on U last year, and one little boy shouted, "UTERUS!!"

I laughed my ass off!!

Anonymous said...

Love that Grandpa adored their enthusiastic wrestling. What a cool memory for you to carry.

We're glad to say at our house that Penis starts with P. So does Pee and Puke and Poop. *SIGH*

Melissa said...

You must be so proud!! The things boys say!!

Lovely Lalo-Cha said...

You have to love them for it! Glad you just agreed and moved on. I am sure teachers have heard worse.