B3 Said the F Word.....

I walked into the kitchen just in time to hear B2 threatening "I'm going to tell." B3 sat wide eyed as he noticed me come into the room. "You're going to tell what?" I inquired. "B3 said the F word." B2 eagerly informed me. "What?!?!?!" I gasped. With a look of total shock on my face I stared at B3 in disbelief. "Where in the world did you hear THAT word young man?" I questioned. "I don't know. Maybe G1 & G2 talked about it" He said. "WHAT?!?!? Wait a minute, exactly what F word are we talking about here? What F word did you say?" I asked. He sat quietly for a minute then gathered his nerve to say it once more...... B3 spoke just above a whisper - "fat..... I said fat." I sat stunned in silence for a minute. I was so relieved it was the three letter F word and not the four letter one. It took me a minute to think of where in the world all of this grammatical confusion was coming from. Then it hit me. A day or two ago G1 & G2 were talking about fat thighs and I told them to knock it off, that FAT was a swear word in my house. B3 must have over heard that conversation and ran with it. Poor kiddo really thought he had committed some terrible sin.


It's my own fault for banning that word. I just got so sick of hearing THAT WORD and feeling how that very word made me feel that I decided to ban it from the house one day many years ago..... and it's just always been that way. I always struggled with my weight - from as early as I can remember. I was bullied and teased mercilessly throughout my childhood because I was "fat". Remember the old saying "sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me?" Well that is so not true. Names can and do hurt and they have the potential to scar a person for years. Children can be so cruel. Because of their inexperience and immaturity most children don't hold their tongues when they should. That's why I try to guard my own little ones against inflicting such cruelties by teaching them to consider other people's feelings before they speak and to never use someones weakness for their own entertainment. Most times my kids get it - but it always amazes me how insensitive adults can be.


For years I was totally oblivious. I was flattered by what I thought were compliments.... "Wow, you look wonderful, are you losing weight?", "Hey that outfit is very slimming on you, you look fabulous.", "That hair cut really suits you, it makes your face look slimmer too." ..... and then I began to wonder "is my weight a deficit in who I am?" I realized that I had never heard anyone say to a petite woman, "Gee that outfit really adds some padding to your rump - you look wonderful!" or "Wow, you must be putting on a few pounds, your face is starting to fill out - good for you, keep up the good work!" How insulting would that be - to insinuate that a thin woman needed to gain weight in order to look good. This is one area I try to shield my girls from. Too many messages today say that slimmer is better. Young women's minds are programmed to believe that "the more weight I lose the better I look. The slimmer I am the more attention and acknowledgement I will receive. Skinny is better - think thin. If I am thin and pretty I will be accepted, but if I am not thin I am not acceptable."


"If I am not thin I am not acceptable" Wow, what a statement. Nothing could be further from the truth. But because we've heard and seen it so often we tend to believe it ~ and then we act upon what we think instead of the truth. Proverbs 23:7 says "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "


So maybe I am a little sensitive about this subject ~ it just hits close to home. I wish someones parents would have taught them about the F-word when we were kids.

With the rain we've had the past few days my beautiful lilacs are starting to bloom. I LOVE the scent of lilacs. I even use lilac scented candles indoors during the winter time when I cannot have the real thing :)
Lilacs remind me of my grandparent house on Peter Street in Windsor when we were kids. Beautiful lilac bushes lined the back yard fence line separating their back yard from a field behind the house. It was a spectacular sight to see but even better than that was the scent of all those blooms on a warm summer day. The slightest breeze would stir up that heavenly aroma. I need a little nostalgia once in a while ~ it keeps me sane and helps ward off stress. How much stress can a stay at home mom have? Well let me tell you..... we had an intense situation earlier today - it was an extreme emergency! Baby G3 lost her soother!!! I wasn't sure if it got left behind at a speech class or if it had fallen out of her car seat in our travels..... but it was gone and she wanted it back, NOW! Every kid in the house was on a mission..... FIND THE SOOTHER - QUICKLY.
It was a tense fifteen minutes of terror - especially since I couldn't readily locate my spare. But in the end it turned up.... it had fallen down inside the couch. A quick washing off to remove unnecessary dust bunnies and Baby G3's world was all right again.
The scent of lilacs are a comfortable reminder of yesterday, but I wouldn't trade my today's for anything.