We are not big fans of tattling, but I also like to be in the know. So when Alex decided to share a story of Avery making a bad choice at school, I did not turn him way.
The short version starts with four kids on the playground disagreeing about a game and ends with Avery saying the “S” word. At that point, I thanked Alex for his report and slipped him a quarter to keep the information coming in the future, while planning my approach to rid Avery of this mature language choice that is emerging pre-maturely – soap, scolding or a casual mother-daughter talk based in reason? But Alex was not done, and before I could stand up, he decided he needed to tell me what the “S” word was. Once again curiosity outweighed the appropriate parental response and I quickly learned the word was “stupid.”
At that point, I was so relieved it was not any of the other five options running through my mind, that I wasn’t sure I could even be angry. I opted for a small “talking to” with Avery to settle the matter (as we do try to discourage using “stupid” in certain contexts), and began bracing myself for the real deal, which for Avery could be next week or two years down the road. And that is being optimistic …
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