Potty Mouths & Hero Worship

Like most kids, our kids have a huge case of hero worship for Eric. They want to be near him always. They want to be just like him. If they see him do something, they have to do it too. When he says something, 4 little mouths quickly repeat him. In other words, whatever dad does must be worth doing.

And so a few years ago when Eric began dropping little bits of potty talk into his conversations with the kids, I thought it was funny. When they would repeat him and call each other poop, I thought it was funny. But yet those words didn't become part of their everyday speech. It was just something they'd repeat when playing with Eric.

I miss those days! Now, all 4 kids clearly fall into the potty mouth category. I could give thousands of examples of how bodily functions get worked into their daily conversations, but I'll spare you the agony.

Although the kids have started talking this way on their own, Eric is clearly still the ring leader. Just imagine what would happen if he started spouting off mathematical theorems or the poetry of Robert Frost. Talk about power!

So I spend a lot of time groaning and rolling my eyes. But I'll admit, there is a little bit of me that cracks up whenever one of the kids runs over to another and says "I'll poop on you!"