I expect my bugs to use a large vocabulary.
My spelling may be atrocious, my punctuation vulgar, but I expect good terminology from the offspring.
Even when they were learning to speak I felt that the words they knew they should be able to actually use properly. Otherwise what’s the point?
Despite what one may think, they should be bugs not parrots.
For example:
If my two year old wanders around the house saying, “crap” I have not taught her well.
If my four year old says, “crap” after she spills her milk all over her church dress 2 minutes before we are to leave, I am hardly offended.
Back in our med school days the daughter of a friend cried out, “Shut You pie hole!!”
Her daddy was aghast, “It is ‘Shut YOUR pie hole’ dear. And we don’t say that to people.”
A delightful example of phraseological instruction by a parent.
Alarmingly, we have reached a new level of word usage at our house.
I will explain.
We were watching the movie Up.
It was a very exciting part near the end.
Mr. Frederickson was climbing on top of an airborne blimp with Kevin, the bird. As the shot panned out and we saw how dangerously high up they were The Princess inhaled sharply with alarm and then she said, “Gasp!!!”
She said the word.
I hardly know what to think.
I am wordless.