With All of My Mice!
In an effort to raise children who see words that deal with sexuality as somewhat the same as any other words, I occasionally run into a dilemma. That happened a few days ago when my brother-in-law was visiting our home.
He was teasing my three-year old son at the dinner table in a way that my son apparently did not appreciate. And so, my son took it upon himself to reply in a way that got his uncle's attention -- and that of all of the rest of us.
He said loudly and earnestly, "I'm going to punch you in the penis! ... And with all of my mice!!"
We were all concerned initially because of the hostility he expressed and because of the particular body part he decided was going to be attacked. The fairly long pause between the first part of his threat and the second gave me any opportunity to step into my parental mode. But once he completed his threat, the vivid picture of many mice clutched in his little hand immediately laid waste to my sage words about expressing our angry feelings in non-aggressive ways.
My husband held a straight face for the longest (about four seconds). I came in second at about two seconds, but my brother-in-law went sideways off of his chair instantly laughing. My seven-year looked around, mystified by the fact that his younger brother had just gotten away with a hostile statement and no one was "discussing" this with him.
Our family has a habit of collecting phrases that were once misspoken even though the meaning got through -- and reusing them at a later date. I'm really looking forward to having an opportunity to let someone know that I'm going to try really hard and do something "with all of my mice!"
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Technorati Tags: laughter, funny kids
He was teasing my three-year old son at the dinner table in a way that my son apparently did not appreciate. And so, my son took it upon himself to reply in a way that got his uncle's attention -- and that of all of the rest of us.
He said loudly and earnestly, "I'm going to punch you in the penis! ... And with all of my mice!!"
We were all concerned initially because of the hostility he expressed and because of the particular body part he decided was going to be attacked. The fairly long pause between the first part of his threat and the second gave me any opportunity to step into my parental mode. But once he completed his threat, the vivid picture of many mice clutched in his little hand immediately laid waste to my sage words about expressing our angry feelings in non-aggressive ways.
My husband held a straight face for the longest (about four seconds). I came in second at about two seconds, but my brother-in-law went sideways off of his chair instantly laughing. My seven-year looked around, mystified by the fact that his younger brother had just gotten away with a hostile statement and no one was "discussing" this with him.
Our family has a habit of collecting phrases that were once misspoken even though the meaning got through -- and reusing them at a later date. I'm really looking forward to having an opportunity to let someone know that I'm going to try really hard and do something "with all of my mice!"
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: laughter, funny kids
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