Thursday, December 4, 2008

The “F” Word

Disclaimer: sorry to be so potty mouth in such a short span of time. It won’t happen again.

Yesterday, Scout, our 9 month old puppy, was being walked by Alex (age 8), Caleb (6) and I after school. As we walked the trails near our home, some dogs started barking. Scout is a bit skiddish (the folks at the shelter guessed that he might have been beaten as a young pup), so he lowered his ears and slinked as far from the barking as possible. The kids commented that the dogs seemed to be yelling at Scout. Here was their conversation:

“It's like the dogs are shouting bad words in dog language.”
“Maybe they’re saying the ‘F’ Word,” Caleb says, matter of fact.
“The ‘F’ Word is so bad adults go to jail for saying it,” Alex adds, solemn.
“Do you know what the ‘F’ Word is?” I ask my first grade son.
“Yes.”
“Did Alex teach you?”
“Yes.”
Instantly Alex looks up at me, with both giggle and fear behind her oh-so-busted blue eyes. Her face reads: passing knowledge along to my younger sibling really IS my job…I’m just fulfilling my duty.
“What is the ‘F’ Word?” I ask Caleb, gently.
He whispers like we’re in a museum…“Fub.”

We walk along in silence, with leaves crunching under our feet, but the laughter inside me was bubbling up like a torrent of joy. Innocence truly is a lovely, and fleeting, commodity. Today, I simply cherish it for the gift that it is. Because, yes, someday there will be a day when even the pastor's kids will have a grasp of all sorts of colorful language. But today I simply thank Jesus for the innocence of my angels. And I pray to God for wisdom to be a good dad.

And mostly I pray that I don't fub things up.

9 comments:

Mike Paddy said...

And I always thought the "F" word was fudge....

mike paddy
http://paddysprogress.blogspot.com/

Josh M said...

If only the man who told us to "Fub Africa" could have a little bit more of this innocence ... if only we all could ... great reminder here of innocence's beauty.

NanaBlue said...

Such a funny story. My husband and I haven't stopped laughing yet. Oh, and I don't think you have any worries about not being a good dad.

Eric McClellan said...

I tried to think of something witty to add, but I gave up cause I couldn't think of anything.

very, very funny.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's true, for saying "fub" adults go to the same jail where they keep the Hamburglar and Swiper, I heard they force feed you marshmallows til your stomach hurts. Just say no to fub.

Kara H said...

HA! This makes me laugh...I am the youngest of 3, and for the longest time when we were just kids, my brother had me convinced that the "F" word was fart. One day, my brother said it...fart! I yelled at the top of my lungs "Mom! Ryan said the "F" word!!!" She was horrified, but my brother quickly told mom what he had told me the "F" word was. I was left wondering what it might be???
Just enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Annie Smith said...

aw thank you for sharing this. it reminds me that caleb thought i was barbie :)

Angela said...

In our family the "F" word is fair. As in "that is not fair." They even have to pay us 1 cent each time they say it. I dread the day when they learn the real "F" word.

Anonymous said...

Laughed so hard. Reminded me when my sister was three and we were having our septic tank pumped and I was home sick with pneumonia and my sister, my mom, and myself were looking out the window at the truck and my mom told my sister, "Say truck," My sister, in clear verbage, didn't say truck nor did she say fub. She said the "f" word and my mom looked at me, age 12, wondering if I had ever heard what my sister just said. I just smiled. My sister in three more attempts never did say "truck."