For the past 2 weeks when they boys get home from school the first thing they do is hop up to the counter that separates the kitchen & dining room. It is in the dining room, but looks into the kitchen. They eat breakfast there while I pack lunches, they eat lunch there in the summer and now they eat their after school snack there. They call it Mom's Restaurant. They hop onto the bar stools and I put on a fake accent and pretend I don't know them. Then I proceed to take their order. They crack up when I get to them part where I say (In my best southern accent) "You boys from around here?".
After school they sit at Mom's restaurant and tell me all about their day. Sometimes I have to ask a bunch of questions to get any info and some days the details just spill out. Today's conversation started out rough. But once I got Connor rolling he started telling story after story in his "Connor Way". Here is the most memorable from today...
Me: Was everyone nice to each other at school today? (my Mom way of asking if anyone is picking on him)
Connor: Well, everyone except "A" (no need to name names, as I have no idea who reads this)
Me: What happened?
Connor: "A" called Zack (I can use his name, he's the victim after all) a bad word.
Me: What word?
Connor : I don't want to say
Me: It's OK, you aren't really saying it, you are just telling me a story. Plus I asked, so it's OK this one time.
Connor: It's a grown-up word
Me: What word?
Connor: I don't want to say
Me: Just say it
Connor: It's the "s" word
I took a deep breath and thought "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! IN KINDERGARTEN!!! I HAVE KEPT MY LANGUAGE CLEAN FOR SIX F*&^ING YEARS!!!" Which , for an Italian kid from the Bronx was not an easy task.
Me: It's OK buddy just tell Mom what the word was so we can talk about it.
Connor: Stupid. He called Zack stupid Mom. Why are you laughing Mom?
Me: I love you buddy. You are right, that is a grown ups word.
Connor: Can I have another graham cracker?
The conversation continued to how calling people names hurts their feelings. But the real lesson for today is to get all of the information before you jump to conclusions. Especially when your information is coming from a six year old!
