Wait. You Said What?

This afternoon, Henry, Ivy and I spent several hours at the park with our friends enjoying the glorious sunshine and warm temperatures. When it was time to leave, we climbed into the car, now hot and muggy inside. Henry was hot and tired, and much like any other hot and tired 3 year old, he started to complain. He wanted the windows down, he wanted the air conditioning on. He wanted, no, NEEDED a drink of water. I fielded his requests, got the air cranked up and thought he was pretty much settled. Then I heard him say this:

"I just really need some sh*t."

My head flipped around and my jaw dropped. Since he's three, I knew he probably didn't realize what he was saying. Just to be sure, I asked him to repeat what he said. Sure enough, same words, same sound.

My next thought was to laugh. I couldn't wait to get home and email my friends to find out which one of their kids had taught my little Henry to swear. And really, whoever it was didn't do a very good job, cause I'm pretty sure Henry doesn't actually need any of that particular four letter word. Not exactly the right word choice, know what I mean?

But. Before giggling, parenting was required. Because Henry can't say sh*t, no matter how much it makes me laugh.

When we arrived home, I called Henry into my room and lifted him onto my lap.

"Henry," I asked, "Where did you hear the word sh**?"

He looked down and played with the buttons on my shirt. "I think I heard it from Aislynne," he said.

(This surprised me. I was expecting a random child from the childcare center at the gym, or someone he'd met at the park. I didn't really think any of his good friends had taught him to swear.)

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He looked at me and said, "Wait, Mommy, what word did you say?"

"The word you said in the car this afternoon, Henry. When you said you really needed some sh**." (I hated to keep using the word, but I was about to tell him he couldn't say it anymore and I didn't want to make it a bigger deal than it needed to be. And how else would he know what I was talking about if I didn't tell him? Straightforward, honest. It's the best way to go, yes?)

I saw the light bulb turn on as Henry realized what I was talking about. "NO Mommy!" he said. "I said I really needed some SHADE."

Ha. Ha. Ha. That's fantastic.

At least now we'll know if Henry ever really does swear, it'll be because he heard it from his mother.