When Marty and I revelled over the idea of having a family, raising children, I never dreamed of all it would entail from the emotional joy and heartwrenching life experiences for them to the physical responsibility of watching a child grow and endure all of life.. Their eyes lighting up at creating new friendships while also watching their tears cascading down their cheeks after someone rejects them. I had some notions, but no one could have prepared me for what lie ahead. When all the nieces and nephews started coming along in our family, I had a meager glimpse at a parent's lack of sleep, kids' temper tantrums, occasional time outs, forever watching childrens' shows, and the inevitable trip to the Urgent Care; yet, no one truly prepared me for the "Willie Wonka" and his chocolate factory adventure that would make its debut over and over again. Parenting is one of the most rewarding vocations or gifts anyone could imagine......having children of your own............while still being the most challenging responsibility at the same time. I could write volumes on the subject of parenthood from selecting toddler beds to the options for their activities to school and all the strange happenings inbetween......no one can prepare you. No one told me how much I would worry when my children had a fever or a croupe cough. Better yet, other parents were holding out about having to collect their excrement in search of a swallowed coin or hidden item. What is that?? No one mentioned some of the peculiar words that would spring forth from such sweet lips. Yes, those sweet lips, "Out of the mouths of babes", such sweet, innocent lips. Nothing in life can shock me anymore, but there are times when I stop dead in my tracks in my household, and I wonder what the heck is that? Where did that come from?? Whose child is this??? Is God playing a joke on me???? Of course, I wouldn't change any of it; taking the good with the bad.
Recently, it was brought to my attention that my 8-year old neice, Maria, was repeating this phrase, "Fire in the hole," over and over again. Her daddy, Frank, asked her what that meant, and in an hysterical tone she said, "You know, daddy, like farts."
Trust me when I say that that is one of those words that sends shivers up my spine.....I think it all goes back to my childhood. Yes, I'll blame this one on my parents. Going as far back as I can remember, we weren't allowed to use that word in our house. God forbid if we ever let one go ALOUD, but I always felt that we were not supposed to let bodily functions be recognized, especially WIND being brought to the attention of anyone around you. Furthemore, God forbid if you did LET IT GO, with sound, you better apologize profusely with an "excuse me." Now, I could be exaggerating a bit, but believe me when I say that that word growing up was not supposed to be mentioned in our house. In my house now, we refer to it as......... GAS. Whatever your take is on the subject, that's where I stand on it, and I'll blame it on my mother who seemed to stress that point regarding certain bodily functions.
So back to my story of my lovely niece, Maria, daughter to my dear sister, Chrissy. She recently shared this phrase with her dad, and as the story goes, when he asked her where she learned this special phrase, she said.........Faith. She of course, is MY daughter, and she learned it from an ever popular television show. Let's just say it's a square cleaning item who lives in the sea. Yes, my friends, when I gave birth to a sweet little girl, she turned out to be a 7-year old sailor! Funny thing is, I think after having three children, I've learned to tune them out sometimes. Who knows how long she's been saying IT!
As I said, I could write volumes on the funny things that kids say. Nothing surprises me anymore; even when I hear, "Fire in the hole!"
God has a sense of humor
No comments:
Post a Comment