The little man and I were almost home yesterday afternoon when he piped up from the backseat.
“Mama? I have a little bit of bad news to tell you.”
“Okay, buddy – what is it?”
“Well, Mama, I think you’re probably going to be a little disappointed, but today? At school? Somebody said a bad word, Mama. A CUSS WORD. They did, Mama! I didn’t see who it was, but I heard it.”
Two things immediately ran through my mind: 1) OHMYWORD is the bad language stuff starting already? and 2) When in the sam hill did Alex learn the phrase “cuss word”?
I didn’t want to push the conversation – mainly because I know he’ll talk a whole lot more about something if I don’t pepper him with questions – and sure enough, after a few seconds, he said, “And Mama? I don’t want to say the word to you because I know I’ll get in trouble, but do you know what letter it started with? Do you know, Mama? IT STARTED WITH AN S.”
“Oh really?”
“YES MA’AM – SOMEBODY SAID THE S WORD.”
We drove along for a few more seconds, and I tried to make sense of the whole thing. I certainly don’t put anything past a bunch of young’uns, but I also know that bad language is far from the norm at A.’s sweet little school. And the more I thought about it, the more I decided that there had to be more to the story.
“Hey buddy? Do you remember what the bad word was?”
“Yes ma’am. But I’m not gonna say it, Mama. I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Well, can you tell me a word that rhymes with it?
“I think I can do that, Mama.”
About that time we pulled into our driveaway, and as I put the car in park I turned around to look at the six year-old in the backseat. I could tell he was thinking so hard, and once he settled on an answer, his eyes met mine.
“Mama? The bad word? It rhymes with…ROOPID.”
“Roopid?”
“Yes ma’am – BUT I’M STILL NOT SAYING THAT S WORD THAT RHYMES WITH ROOPID.”
I’m pretty sure that my grin covered up my ears and wrapped around the back of my head.
“I’M NOT SAYING IT.”
“Well, that is totally understandable, buddy. That’s a good decision.”
“Thanks, Mama.”
And then he ran inside.
ok that is hilarious!!
i love the innocence of kids!!
So sweet!
This makes me laugh because of a similar story I’ve been told about myself! I told my mama after church one day that some boys were saying the “F word.” She, of course, almost died. She asked me to spell the word to her and I spelled “F-A-R-T.” It was a horrible word in our house! HA!
I have a similar story to Lauren’s. Fart was a bad word in our house and I came home from my best friend’s telling my parents that her dad said the F word. Almost 25 years later, anytime we are all together, that story gets told!
omg! my little boy came home and told me the same thing in 4k…he is now in first grade. brings back sweet memories!
That. is. Precious.
Yep, that “roopid” word is a “cuss” word in our house too, right along with the “b” word that rhymes with hutt and the “h” word that rhymes with mate. :-)
I love that! My daughter use to do the same thing. Actually at 17 she still does! Except now she will whisper the word out loud when I ask.
We’ve had that one too! Lately we’ve been going through, “Is this a bad word? What about this? If you don’t tell me the bad words, how will I know not to say them?”
*sigh*
My 6 yo still thinks the s word is Stupid, the d word is dumb and that butt is a really, really bad word. Nothing could make me happier.
He has such an innocent heart! And this, BooMama, is exactly why your sweet boy noticed Ms. Beth’s book at the bookstore instead of those SI magazines! You are doing such a fine job! I wish you lived in KY. I imagine we would be great friends! ;)
Precious, Sophie! When my 3rd grader was in Kindergarten, she came home horrified that someone had said the “H” word. I was momentarily horrified as well, until she told me it was “Hate”. =)
What a sweet boy.
I normally listed to K-Love on the radio, but had changed the station one day when I was by myself. My 7 year old daughter got in the car later and I immediately remembered why I only listen to K-Love with the kids in the car when an ad came on that started with, “Parents, I know it’s hard to talk to your kids about the ‘s word'”. They actually said ‘s word,’ thank goodness, and I was able to change the station before we heard any more. My daughter said, “I wonder which ‘s word’ they mean because I can think of two.” Uh oh. She said, “The ‘st’ word and the ‘sh’ word.” I finally understood that she meant ‘stupid’ and ‘shut up’. She thought about it a while and decided it must be the ‘sh’ word because she didn’t hear the ‘st’ word very often. Ah, the innocence of children.
Aww :)
Reminds me of when I came home and told my mom a kid in my first grade class had been cussing. Word (phrase)? SHUT UP.
Oh, that made me smile! It brought me back to the days of being a kindergarten teacher who had to have the kids whisper the ‘cuss’ word in my ear. I wish they always thought stupid was the worst cuss word!
What a beautiful recount of a precious moment that obviously sparked a ton of memories! Thanks for sharing it with us!
–DWM
How cute! That is a sweet story!
This cracks me up!!! How sweet is he? And smart too in thinking of ‘roopid’ – I’d still be trying to think of what rhymes with the ‘S’ word. :))) I needed a laugh this morning.
hahaha!! okay, the twins love to tell me that stupid is a bad word every time I say it now… they are fully learning about “cuss” words even though I don’t think have actually learned what real cuss words are =)
Just found your blog, love it!
That’s hilarious! I’ve had the same experience with my 8 year old, so glad she hasn’t learned the meaning of a ‘cuss’ word yet but sure that’s in her future.
Love your blog. Aren’t kids the greatest?!
Oh so cute! I’m so glad it wasn’t the other s word.
Innocence is so great!
All my girls (even my almost-teenager) still think “the S word” is either stupid or shut up! I’m so thankful for God’s protection over their ears!
Love that – my favorite from my little men, now 18 and 15 – were from first grade – and not a “sweet” little school – were the s word that you mentioned and the “f” word. That one about sent me into orbit until he said the word rhymed with start. Wheh!!!!
My other fav was when he said someone pointed the finger – this was probably 3rd grade – and granted – we did not attend Christian schools…….
Anyway – that one also tore me up and almost had me meeting with the Oklahoma State President of the School Boards – when I said a prayer, and calmly said “that finger must be really bad, what do you think it means?” His precious curly blonde haired reply was, “I think it means pointing your finger at Jesus.”
Now that baby boy (still w/ preciuos curly blonde hair)is headed to college next year and I don’t even want to know what he knows!? Love em and hold on for the most fabulous ride of your life!
PS – Sometime when I have more time I will have to tell you about “doggy style” from the precious shiny dark haired boy…. HILARIOUS!
Same thing happened to my sister with her oldest (now almost 14). He came home in kindergarten saying that someone had said the “f” word. “Fart”.
I love that sweet innocence.
Donna
How precious! That shows what a good job you have done raising him!
This is a precious moment to store in the memory banks…
Jane (artfully graced)
I love that. So sweet and innocent. I hope he stays that way for a long, long time.
Absolutely precious! ! ! ! ! Precious! ! ! Thank you for making me smile extra big ! ! ! I just love him!
I can so relate to that! Several, several years ago, I picked up my youngest child at soccer practice. He got in the car and said, “I can’t believe it, Grant said the ‘f’ word”. Well you can imagine my shock, this little boy (7 yrs old at the time) was in my son’s SS class, I taught them in Mission Friends when they were in pre-school (I know, I am letting you know, I am ancient!!)and he was always the nicest kid! Well, all I said was “Well, you know, we don’t talk like that”, etc. A couple of days later, I was taking Jeremy to children’s choir. And in the back seat, he piped up, “Yeah, Mom, I can’t believe Grant said fart”. It was all I could do to keep from losing it while driving. Needless to say, I was very relieved!
Oh it brought tears to my eyes! I love it. You must be one awesome Mama to have a boy that precious.
When I taught kindergarten, one of my students came to me and said, “Miss B, Bobby just said the M WORD!” After I asked him what the M word was, he looked side to side to make sure no one else could hear and whispered, “Midget”.
You know, K- busted me a few days ago for saying a “bad word.” What did I say? The word that rhymes with ROOPID. I was telling her that it was ROOPID that the school didn’t have the sidewalk cleared (we’ve had 28″ of snow over the course of a few weeks) and we had to walk into the street to get to the school. BUT MOMMY! YOU SAID A BAD WORD! “Yes Baby I understand where you think I said a bad word, but believe me when I tell you that I could have said much worse.”
Please, let’s freeze time where our babies run to “Miss Beth’s” book instead of the SI Swimsuit issue and they have cuss words that rhyme with Roopid and RutUp (in our case) instead of the big daddy ones that are headed to their ears in what seems like a matter of seconds.
Please?
I get nailed with this one all the time. First off, I was completely taken by surprise when this one was added to the list of “swears”. Who knew!? AmyBear called me on it last year when she was in preschool and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the horrible word was that I’d just said! My problem is, I’m doing “roopid” things all the time! And more often than not, I’m muttering under my breath (or louder) how “roopid” it was to, say, grab the handle of that hot pan without a mitt. I’ve pretty much had to make the distinction between calling a person stupid and using the word to describe making a bad choice. I thought I was doing great until this year when Moo started preschool and the parents were told that the children won’t be chided for making “bad” choices, just “wrong” ones. Give me strength!
Had this EXACT same conversation with our 6 year old regarding the “B” word…
We were freaking out until we found out it was BUTT.
HAHAHA
This was too cute! My kids are 12 and 8 and they are not allowed to use the “S word”. (Always made me crazy, so I just banned it.)They will be playing in the neighborhood and come home to tell me somebody said the “s word”! A neighbor called me once, because her son ran home crying after saying the “S word”. My kids told him he was in big trouble! Once I explained it, she cracked up. Probably thinks I’m nuts, but I dont’ like the “s word”.
My second grader learned the “f” word at school a few weeks ago. I was hoping to goodness it was “fudge” or “fart”, but sadly, it was the mother of them all. *sigh*
I have a similar story. My oldest son, at about that same age, came home talking about the boy in his class who said the F word. I couldn’t contain myself and gasped. I was horrified and, just before deciding to home school, learned that the F word was FART! Whew!
This is such a cute, heartwarming story. Your boy sounds absolutely adorable~you really do have to admire the innocence of children :)
Sophie:
As the mom of two grown boys, one grandboy 18 months old and another grandboy on the way in May…I know good boys…I am in what you may call the boy expert category, albeit self-awarded.
You’ve got a good boy.
Keep it up!
Georgia Jan
Back in the day our “s” word was shut up. And, my new favorite word is roopid.
love it!
My daughter thought that stupid was a cuss word when she was little too.
Bless his sweet little heart! I love their precious innocence at this age. <3
So funny! I have had the same conversation with my kids about stupid. And also “butt.”
Ha! I almost got one of my friends in big trouble once because I told his mom he said the “s word” My mom had to stop laughing to explain to her exactly what the “s word” was :-)
That is so sweet!! That’s a bad word at our house too!
i really want to carry alex around in my pocket. he sounds like such a fun little buddy to have around.
So sweet. I love the innocence of their little hearts. I wish I could bottle it up and sprinkle them with it when they are teenagers.
Wait?! You think we COULD? Or is that called Holy Water?
So precious. Reminds me of a preacher’s wife I was friends with. Her son told a couple of deacons that they weren’t allowed to say the ‘f’ word at their house anymore. What???? No, we can’t say fat anymore…
Please LORD I hope the “s” word that rhymes with Roopid is the only bad word that my little Q-Tip is presented with at school. The thought of those days approaching sends me to Crazyville!
Thanks for sharing…TOO CUTE!
:-)
Precious. Good choice, A! What a sweet lil’ fella:)
Oh that’s so sweet and funny.
At least it was only ROOPID. When he was five, my oldest learned the rhyming song – you know, “Mom, Mom Bo Bomb, Banana Fanana Fo Fom, Me My Mom Mom, MOOOM.” Only, well…he got onto the word Truck. Uh-huh.
I tried not to make a big deal out of it, since he didn’t know the word he was singing, but somehow, deep down, he knew it was a word that was wrong and he began saying it over and over and over…
I finally told him that wasn’t a word we used and not to say it again. He didn’t understand why, but sweetly complied.
About a month later, I got a call from his Cubbies leader at church. She was laughing – nay cackling – as she told me that while they were discussing ways to speak right the night before at AWANA’s, Sloan very boldly raised his hand and said, for all the church to hear, “We really shouldn’t say the word F*&$. It’s a nasty word and it doesn’t make my mom happy.”
Aaaaawesome.
Don’t you love when your kids display their innocence! Of course just as lovable (not) is when your then four year old walks into the room, glances at the tv and then whips out ‘WHAT THE _ _ LL?!” I blame the tv of course. Really! I’ve never said that (at least not in her presence.)
When my boys were little they told me about someone saying a bad word. It was shut up because I told them to never say shut up.. They were so serious!!!
Oh my … the preciousness of that post was not lost on me. What a dear, dear boy you are raising. The next time you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, or the next time you make a meal you feel undeserving of serving to those you love, just remember this conversation and say to yourself “It’s all good! The things that matter, I do well…”
LOL! My son did something similar when he was about six. He got a horrified look on his face and told Grandmommy (my mom) that she had said a bad word. She thought real hard and couldn’t image what she had said. Like your son, he wouldn’t repeat it, told her it was the h-word. She has never said “h-e-l-l” in her life other than in context with a Bible Studay, so she finally asked him if he could spell it. He did: h-a-t-e!
She was so relieved!
My man child 1 came home last week and asked what the “f” word was…. apparently someone got in trouble for saying the “f” word (whatever that meant). Needless to say I DID NOT tell him and told him to only use the “f” words he knew.And then I prayed – A LOT!
When my oldest was about Alex’s age, every now and then she got pretty rebellious and “cussed” into a pillow to let off steam. Her words of choice? “stupidstupidstupidshutupshutupshutup.”
Thankfully, that’s really about the worse cussing she ever did – she’s 21 and married now!
When our youngest was quite a bit younger than Alex (before he was actually speaking recognizable English) he would look at us sometimes, hold up a hand defiantly and shout “BASS!!!” We punished him. We knew he was cussing, he just didn’t know any cuss words yet!
I absolutely LOVE this! That s word is a cuss word in our house, too, as is hate and dumb.
My second grader looks at me every time he reads to me (he’s delving into the realm of chapter books now) and if someone in the story uses one of those words, he asks, “Mommy? Is it okay for me to read that word?” It’s so hard to work through all that with them… how it’s part of the bigger story, but we still don’t want him saying them.
Don’t you just love their tender hearts?
Cute. Innocent.
When my daughter was in the second grade, the teacher handed them a picture to look at that he said was hard to figure out. She took one look at it and said, ‘What in the **** is that?’ She immediately realized what happened and he knew that wasn’t language that she heard from our home but just as he was going to say something, the fire drill bell rang. He said she sobbed all the way down, all the time they were outside, and all the way back up. He finally could talk to her and said, ‘Dryscha, I think you know what you said was wrong don’t you?’ She was so distraught at what slipped out from her mouth. He said if he ever wrote a book about his teacher career, she would have an entire chapter to herself!
Looooooooooooooooooooooooooove.
LOL…the word that rhymes with roopid, is a bad word at my house too.
That made me laugh out loud – and reminds me of a time I had nearly the same experience. Years ago I was babysitting my friends’ kids who were 6 & 8 and took them to see the original Shrek. When we came out I asked how they liked it. The younger said it was great except the 3 bad words. She said, “you know, the other word for donkey… and the S word.” Whaaaat?! I was aghast – these are Pastor’s kids, how did I miss the S word?!
Then her older brother clarified. The S word was the same one your sweet boy was shocked at hearing. Sweet, sweet innocence.
Daneen (long-time lurker)
Cute story–makes having children so worthwhile, doesn’t it? Their cute antics make each of our families unique and I just love it!
When my youngest daughter was about 6 or 7 she said she was concerned with herself because she almost said the “F” word. Turns out it was “For Heaven’s sake”. Oh, mercy!
OH MY, that is just too sweet! I can just picture the grin on your face. I am so glad he considers that a cuss word though, because it means his little world hasn’t moved on to the bigger adult cuss words that are going to invade his innocent life way to soon through some unthinking stranger or TV program.
Daily laying it at the Master’s feet!
Laura Ann
Oh the innocence!! I am a Pre-kindergarten teacher and deal with the awful ugly “s” word all the time…I wish that was the worst they ever heard!!
My children ALSO thought the “s” word rhymed with “rupid”, the “b” word rhymed with “rutt”, and the “h” word rhymed with “rate.” Hear, hear for our brand of cussin’. :)
I usually just read, but this is just too sweet not to tell you so. You unfailingly brighten my day sweet girl.
Wonderful wonderfulness. I love it! I wish my kids were so…conscientious. They have a two year old sister and I’m always saying,”Do you think Ms. Carey (her co-op teacher) will like it when Eliana comes to school and say [fill in the blank with some potty word like poopy butt]?”
He sounds like such a sweet little man.
Grrr. I realized that I said “say” instead of “says” and I don’t like that. So…I’m just telling you that I realize I made the mistake. I’m crazy like that.
LOVE IT! That is just precious! I just wish they could keep this innocence forever! :)
So stinkin’ cute.
(Oh, wait, did I just say a cuss word?)
OMGosh!! That SAME thing happened to me –same word, same ‘uh-oh…I know it was wrong,’ same reaction from mom –but it was MY son who uttered the “bad word” -Hilarious! My son was in first grade at the time. So precious and innocent. Wish it could always stay that way….
I love him.
Bwahahaha, I knew that was coming!
“Stupid” used to be a bad word in our house, too. Not quite to the level of cuss word, but it was forbidden for a couple of years – my son just couldn’t get the hang of when it was right to use it and when it was not. So out it went.
And he once told my mother off for using it. Oops.
Love his little heart! I can just picture his serious little face and hear his cute little 6 year old voice. I do miss those moments with my kids. Mine are all grown up :)
It reminded me of when my brother (my only sibling who is 7 years younger than I am) was about 3 years old. He was upset at our mom because she wouldn’t let him do something. I forget what it was that he couldn’t do but I DO remember what he said. He told Mom, in this very defiant tone, that “if she didn’t let him do whatever it was he wanted to do, he would go around the house shouting really dirty words!!!” Well, my mom wasn’t going to bend and was curious as to what those words might be and told him to go right ahead. My brother very boldly went running through the house shouting “Poop and heck!” over and over! Now, this was in rural southern Ohio in 1969. Those weren’t very nice things to be saying. But, I can still remember Mom and I hiding our faces in the kitchen laughing at him!! I’ve thought of “poop and heck” and few times myself and I think it did make me feel better :) My brother is now 43 and I still smile when I think of him doing that. Kids say the funniest things!
How cute! Shut up was the “s” word when I was a kid!
HAHAHAHA! SO funny! My brother did the same thing when he was little. He came home saying that he heard the “F” word at school, and of course my Mom was a little concerned. So she let him whisper it to her. It wasn’t THE BAAAD “F” word–it rhymed with “Bart”. Kids are hilarious!
This is funny to me because when my oldest child was 5 (now 22)and we moved into a new home, our neighbor took him to the movies (Lion King). Our neighbor returns my son and we are standing there trying to be nice and neighborly so I ask my son “did you like the movie?”(knowing he’ll say “YES!” enthusiastically and thankfully- but he says “it was ok, there was a bad word in it”. Well, we were all puzzled. “What was the word?” He says “well….it was C.B.” We all exchanged puzzled looks…”C.B.? Whats that??” Shamefully he admits “Cactus butt”
Too precious! About 20 or so years ago my girlfriend told the story of her little boy telling her some boys in children’s church were saying the “f” word. In his sweet little 6 year old lispy voice he finally told her what it was; “Freweddy Kruugar.”
That is a great story! I hope that is the worst word he hears at school.
When my son was 6 he heard the S word, H word, and F word. Stupid, Hate, and Freak Out….and I hope those stay the only “cuss” words he ever knows!!!
I teach fourth grade in Colorado and I could tell the same story about a student I had 2 years ago. God bless the kids who still have that roopid sort of innocence.
Love it! He’s so darn sweet!! My kids have had similiar stories… Too bad, now my older boys hear the real bad ones :(
When my grandson was three, he asked for prayer for his mom (my daughter) in childrens’ church because she had said the “s” word. (roopid!)
Aww! That’s sweet. My 6 year old thinks that’s a bad word, too. :)
When my daughter was little we were in a public restroom that had some writing on the stall…she asked me what something said and I told her it was something bad..she stood there for a minute and then whispered to me, “Does it say “I don’t love you”?” LOL
Love it, love it, love it! You are so raising that boy right!
Cute story! Your son sounds so cute. I get the whole stupid being a bad word thing but, butt? What are they supposed to call their butts? I get butthole or butthead being a bad word but just plain butt? I guess it depends on context. I think Ill make stupid a bad word in my house too when I have kiddos. And fart? I imagine you probably have an alternative for fart then. Thats cute ya’lls kids dont know swearing :)
This post may have made my week. So much so that I’m delurking to tell you so, and I gave you a little shout-out over at my place. Thanks for the laugh!
littlewhitefence.blogspot.com
My daughter, who is now 12, also thought the word that rhymes with “Roopid” was the “worstest word ever, Mommy!!”
Unfortunately being in 6th grade now she hears much worse.
So. Very. Precious.
I LOVE that story! I taught Kindergarten for 6 years and that was a very common tattle in my classroom. A child would come up to me and say something like, “So-n-so said the B-word.” I would say, “Whisper it in my ear. It’s okay. You won’t get in trouble.” There response was most always something like “Butt”. The “S-word” was usally “stupid”, “Shoot”, or “Shut-up”. And the “F-WORD” was usually “Fart”! Their innocent definition of “cuss-words” always cracked me up!
CUTE!!!
Can you believe Connor (who is 10 YO) still thinks the S word rhymes with Roopid or Rut Up!!!!
LOL!!!!
Precious children!!!
Much love
Oh, I remember having the conversation about the “s” word being said at school with my son when he was still a little guy. Too bad the words he tells me about now aren’t that low key. You have a sweet boy Sophie.
When mine was 5 he told me someone said the “B” word at school. I was thinking the one that rhymes with witch. But then in the very next breath before I could ask any questions, he says BABY is a bad word and the boy shouldn’t have said it! Loved your story.
That is just too sweet! Unfortunately, that’s not the “s” word that they come home talking about someone saying in 4th grade. :(
Love it! I think A is very rart!